Specialty Pharmacy Technician in Kalamazoo, Michigan at Optimed Pharmacy Inc

POSITION: Specialty Pharmacy Technician

Who We Are:

OptiMed Health Partners optimizes health outcomes and quality of life through personalized and coordinated care. We have been serving patients for over 30 years with a focus on high-quality care in retail pharmacy, specialty pharmacy, and infusion services. The OptiMed Vision reimagines healthcare solutions to achieve unsurpassed value. Our results-oriented culture fosters learning, providing growth opportunities for our employees and exceptional care for our patients in all 50 states.

The Impact of this Role:

The Specialty Pharmacy Technician supports the safe, accurate, and efficient operation of the specialty pharmacy by assisting licensed pharmacists with patient intake, prescription processing, insurance billing, medication preparation, and ongoing patient support. This role serves as an important connection between patients, payors, healthcare providers, and the pharmacy team, helping patients navigate complex specialty medication access and fulfillment processes. Through meticulous recordkeeping, responsive service, and strict adherence to pharmacy regulations and established procedures, the Specialty Pharmacy Technician helps ensure patients receive their medications accurately, safely, and on time.

What You’ll be Doing:

Patient Intake & Support

• Provide friendly, professional service to patients in person, by telephone, and through written communication.
• Answer incoming calls promptly and accurately respond to non-clinical questions.
• Initiate the patient intake process by gathering and entering detailed patient, prescription, demographic, health, allergy, and insurance information into the pharmacy system.
• Maintain and update complete and accurate patient records.
• Communicate with patients regarding prescription status, insurance requirements, financial assistance, delivery coordination, and other service-related needs.
• Refer all clinical questions concerning prescriptions, medications, or patient health to a licensed pharmacist.

Prescription Processing & Medication Preparation

• Process prescriptions accurately and prepare them for review and verification by a pharmacist.
• Assist with verifying prescription authenticity and resolving missing or incomplete information.
• Support the preparation, packaging, dispensing, and compounding of specialty medications under pharmacist supervision.
• Admix medications under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist and in accordance with established procedures.
• Package medications appropriately for pickup or shipment while maintaining accuracy, product integrity, and patient confidentiality.
• Remain informed about new, discontinued, and unavailable medications that may affect prescription fulfillment.

Insurance Billing & Medication Access

• Navigate insurance plans and accurately bill the appropriate payor.
• Coordinate benefits for patients covered by more than one insurance plan.
• Apply appropriate billing overrides, codes, and manual billing processes when necessary.
• Identify and help resolve insurance rejections, authorization issues, and other barriers to medication access.
• Stay informed about available copayment assistance resources, including manufacturer copay programs, foundations, grants, and other financial-support options.
• Assist eligible patients with accessing appropriate financial-assistance programs.

Pharmacy Operations & Collaboration

• Work under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist while following all applicable local, state, and federal laws and regulations.
• Collaborate with prescriber offices, payors, pharmacists, and internal teams to resolve patient-specific issues.
• Support inventory management, medication shipping, and other daily pharmacy operations.
• Protect patient confidentiality and handle all health information in accordance with HIPAA requirements.
• Follow detailed instructions and established procedures to maintain accuracy and reduce the risk of medication errors.
• Senior or experienced pharmacy technicians may assist with training and supporting newly hired technicians or pharmacy students.

Who You’ll be Working With:

The Specialty Pharmacy Technician works under the direct supervision of licensed pharmacists and collaborates closely with fellow pharmacy technicians and other specialty pharmacy team members. This role regularly communicates with patients, caregivers, prescriber offices, insurance providers, financial-assistance programs, and internal operational teams to coordinate prescription processing and resolve barriers to medication access. Through timely communication and careful follow-through, the Specialty Pharmacy Technician helps create a smooth and supportive experience throughout the patient’s specialty pharmacy journey.

Skills and Experience You’ll Bring to the Table:

• Active Pharmacy Technician license in the state of Michigan
• A minimum of two years of pharmacy technician experience preferred
• Previous specialty pharmacy experience preferred
• Experience with prescription processing and pharmacy computer systems
• Knowledge of pharmacy insurance billing, coordination of benefits, overrides, and rejection resolution
• Familiarity with copayment assistance programs, foundations, grants, or other medication-access resources preferred
• Experience preparing, packaging, dispensing, compounding, or admixing medications under pharmacist supervision preferred
• Working knowledge of applicable pharmacy regulations, HIPAA requirements, and patient confidentiality standards
• Strong computer, data-entry, and documentation skills

Competencies You’ll Bring to the Table:

• Strong attention to detail and commitment to medication safety
• Clear and professional verbal and written communication
• Patient-focused customer service and relationship-building skills
• Ability to work accurately and efficiently in a fast-paced environment
• Strong organization, prioritization, and multitasking abilities
• Ability to follow detailed instructions and established procedures
• Sound judgment in recognizing and referring clinical questions to a pharmacist
• Reliability, accountability, and consistent follow-through
• Collaborative and respectful approach to working with patients and colleagues
• Positive attitude and commitment to continuous improvement

Work Environment:

The Specialty Pharmacy Technician works in a fast-paced pharmacy and office environment. This role requires prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer, along with regular telephone communication and performance of routine pharmacy-related tasks. Reasonable accommodations may be made in accordance with applicable laws.

OptiMed Health Partners provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.

This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.