Pharmacy Technician Certification Board's (PTCB) National Certification Program Receives NCCA Accreditation Renewal

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) is pleased to announce that the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) has granted re-accreditation to the PTCB Pharmacy Technician Certification Program through November 30, 2021.

To qualify for renewal of accreditation, the PTCB Program underwent NCCA's recently updated extensive review process to demonstrate compliance with NCCA Standards for the Accreditation of Certification Programs. The NCCA Standards were updated in 2014 for a January 2016 implementation. Accreditation for professional or personnel certification programs provides impartial, third-party validation that a program has met recognized national and international credentialing industry standards for development, implementation, and maintenance of certification programs. The PTCB Program's NCCA accreditation was initially granted in 2006 and renewed in 2011.

"NCCA accreditation represents an independent, third-party in-depth review by certification experts," said William Schimmel, PTCB Associate Executive Director. "Choosing to renew our accreditation demonstrates PTCB's commitment to excellence and a high standard of practice in the certification industry."

Founded in 1995, PTCB is a nonprofit certification organization acting in the public interest. PTCB advances medication safety by certifying technicians who are qualified to support pharmacists and patient care teams in all practice settings. Certified pharmacy technicians (CPhTs) assist pharmacists in many roles, including dispensing medications, verifying prescriptions, immunizing patients, compounding sterile preparations, point of care testing, medication therapy management, telepharmacy, and more.

NCCA standards are consistent with the Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing, a set of testing standards developed jointly by the American Educational Research Association (AERA), American Psychological Association (APA), and the National Council on Measurement in Education (NCME). PTCB's accreditation renewal process entailed a lengthy review of PTCB's procedures, protocols, and operations. NCCA standards addressed the structure and governance of PTCB, the characteristics of the PTCB Certification Program, the information required to be available to exam candidates, certificants, and the public, and the recertification initiatives of PTCB. PTCB's test development and administration procedures, psychometric analyses, and policies and procedures all meet NCCA's stringent standards.

Certification organizations that submit their programs for NCCA accreditation are evaluated based on their processes and products. Their program content validity is demonstrated with a comprehensive job analysis conducted and analyzed by experts. NCCA-accredited programs encompass a wide range of professions and occupations. To date, NCCA has accredited approximately 330 programs from more than 130 organizations. More about NCCA accreditation standards is found at NCCA Accreditation.

http://www.ptcb.org/about-ptcb/news-room/news-landing/2017/11/02/ptcb's-national-certification-program-receives-ncca-accreditation-renewal

The Pharmacy Technician Certification Board is the leading certifying body for pharmacy technicians in the US. The nonprofit organization has granted more than 615,000 certifications since its founding in 1995. PTCB was established by the American Pharmacists Association; American Society of Health-System Pharmacists; Illinois Council of Health-System Pharmacists; and Michigan Pharmacists Association; and joined in 2001 by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy. PTCB's national Certification Program services more than 280,000 active PTCB Certified Pharmacy Technicians nationwide. PTCB's mission is to advance medication safety by certifying technicians who are qualified to support pharmacists and patient care teams in all practice settings. www.ptcb.org 

SOURCE Pharmacy Technician Certification Board

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