What does a pharmacist manager do?

A pharmacist manager is responsible for monitoring the daily operations of a pharmacy, ensuring that all pharmacy personnel provides the right medication to the customers based on the prescription. Pharmacist managers assist in advising the customers for the instructions of their medications, including its dosage and instructions of intake. They manage the inventory and keep safe and clean storage for the products at all times. A pharmacist manager must have a comprehensive knowledge of the medical industry, as well as excellent communication skills, especially in responding to the customers' concerns and inquiries.
Pharmacist manager responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real pharmacist manager resumes:
- Schedule procedures, manage caseload for physicians in clinic and surgery.
- Addressed customer complaints with compassion, tact, and respect to achieve mutually beneficial outcomes.
- Manage a team of 6 (1 pharmacist and 5 techs) prepare shift schedules according to Rx plan and payroll.
- Manage educational training for technicians relate to federal HIPAA guidelines.
- Manage established high-volume independent community pharmacy operation focuse on the local HIV/AIDS community.
- Achieve extensive expertise in third party adjudication and rejection resolution, including Medicare and Medicaid.
- Conduct job interviews, hire and train new employees and enable staff to provide CVS quality customer service.
- Counsele patients on appropriate use of prescription and OTC medications and communicate potential adverse events and drug interactions.
- Train staff to efficiently solve customer problems with compassion and empathy.
- Order and fill all medications, including iv's for both hospital and ambulance district.
- Direct FTE management, budgeting, staff recruitment, in addition to staff training and development.
- Stay current with frequent upgrades to CVS systems, improving efficiency, without compromising on service and quality.
- Develop and negotiate pharmacy network contracts with all providers, and analyze contract impact to customers and/or PBM.
- Experience and diligent in spotting fraudulent prescriptions, work with law enforcement and DEA officers to apprehend several suspects.
- Prepare sterile compounds of medications and ensure the accuracy of the preparation base on USP 797 and ACHC standards.
Pharmacist manager skills and personality traits
We calculated that 20% of Pharmacist Managers are proficient in Patients, Customer Service, and Patient Care. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Technical skills, and Leadership skills.
We break down the percentage of Pharmacist Managers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 20%
Collaborated with medical personnel and patients regarding medications, drug interactions, medical equipment, disease management and drug side effects.
- Customer Service, 17%
Job details: Managing inventory/audits/staff/scheduling/hiring/training/ordering/verifying Rx/providing excellent customer service and clinical expertise.
- Patient Care, 11%
Developed comprehensive patient care plans, participated in daily multidisciplinary rounds, and conducted weekly case studies for medically complex patients.
- Compassion, 6%
Counseled patients on proper use of their medications showing empathy and compassion to establish a positive patient-provider relationship.
- Inventory Management, 6%
Developed a successful inventory management system, doubled revenue by soliciting our services to local nursing homes as their pharmacy provider.
- Federal Laws, 5%
Maintained inventory levels of legend and controlled substances and maintained documentation as required by state and federal laws
"patients," "customer service," and "patient care" are among the most common skills that pharmacist managers use at work. You can find even more pharmacist manager responsibilities below, including:
Technical skills. Another soft skill that's essential for fulfilling pharmacist manager duties is technical skills. The role rewards competence in this skill because "medical and health services managers must stay up to date with advances in healthcare technology, such as the coding and electronic health record (ehr) systems their facility adopts." According to a pharmacist manager resume, here's how pharmacist managers can utilize technical skills in their job responsibilities: "oversee professional and technical staff manage pharmacy inventory to meet budget manage third party reimbursement perform pharmacist duties eric tawney r.ph. "
Leadership skills. pharmacist managers are also known for leadership skills, which are critical to their duties. You can see how this skill relates to pharmacist manager responsibilities, because "medical and health services managers hire, train, and direct staff." A pharmacist manager resume example shows how leadership skills is used in the workplace: "provided leadership and guidance by using peer review to identify opportunities to improve pharmacy operations and improve safety. "
Detail oriented. pharmacist manager responsibilities often require "detail oriented." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "medical and health services managers must pay attention to detail." This resume example shows what pharmacist managers do with detail oriented on a typical day: "checked on drug interactions with otc drugs and natural products, providing detailed patient counseling to ensure safety and well-being. "
Analytical skills. A commonly-found skill in pharmacist manager job descriptions, "analytical skills" is essential to what pharmacist managers do. Pharmacist manager responsibilities rely on this skill because "medical and health services managers review and evaluate healthcare metrics for ways to improve efficiency and meet goals." You can also see how pharmacist manager duties rely on analytical skills in this resume example: "analyzed drug interactions in order to identify potentially dangerous combinations, prevent harm to patients and minimize future health risks. "
Communication skills. Another skill commonly found on pharmacist manager job descriptions is "communication skills." It can come up quite often in pharmacist manager duties, since "medical and health services managers must convey information to their staff, other healthcare workers, and, sometimes, patients and insurance agents." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day pharmacist manager responsibilities: "relied on these communication skills to explain and address drug interactions, provide patient counseling, and answer medication questions. "
The three companies that hire the most pharmacist managers are:
- CVS Health1,071 pharmacist managers jobs
- Walgreens934 pharmacist managers jobs
- Walmart129 pharmacist managers jobs
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Pharmacist manager vs. Service director
A service director is responsible for managing and implementing customer service policies and ensuring that all staff strictly adhere to reach the highest customer satisfaction. Service directors' duties include identifying business opportunities to improve customers' experience, monitoring the performance of the customer service team, developing strategic procedures on service delivery, creating new promotional offers and services, and coaching the team to increase business productivity. A service director must have excellent leadership and communication skills, as well as extensive knowledge of the customer service industry to lead the team and boost company sales.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a pharmacist manager are more likely to require skills like "compassion," "inventory management," "federal laws," and "allergies." On the other hand, a job as a service director requires skills like "healthcare," "oversight," "surgery," and "perioperative." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Service directors really shine in the technology industry with an average salary of $137,415. Comparatively, pharmacist managers tend to make the most money in the health care industry with an average salary of $100,580.On average, service directors reach higher levels of education than pharmacist managers. Service directors are 12.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree and 28.1% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Pharmacist manager vs. Interim director
An interim director is responsible for supporting business operations, organizing training, as well as specific department programs for staff to maximize their productivity and improve optimal performance to meet project deliverables and achieve client satisfaction. Interim directors coordinate with the management and board executives on corporate decisions, implementing company guidelines and procedures, and identifying business opportunities to generate more revenues and profitability. They also analyze financial statements and business transactions, developing strategies to reduce expenses and minimize loss without sacrificing the organization's quality services.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that pharmacist manager responsibilities requires skills like "patients," "customer service," "compassion," and "inventory management." But an interim director might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "healthcare," "oversight," "patient safety," and "financial management."
On average, interim directors earn a higher salary than pharmacist managers. Some industries support higher salaries in each profession. Interestingly enough, interim directors earn the most pay in the professional industry with an average salary of $110,000. Whereas pharmacist managers have higher pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $100,580.In general, interim directors achieve higher levels of education than pharmacist managers. They're 15.6% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 28.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for pharmacist managers in the next 3-5 years?
Professor of Pharmaceutics and Biomedical Sciences Track-Head/Industrial Pharmacy (Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences), Campbell University
Pharmacist manager vs. Nursing director
A nursing director's role is to oversee and evaluate all nurse staff in a hospital or organization, ensuring their efficiency at providing care towards patients. A nursing director's responsibilities mainly revolve around administrative tasks such as coordinating with physicians and other consultants, producing reports, conducting assessments, managing the budget and expenditures, and resolving issues. Furthermore, a nursing director must keep and maintain accurate records, ensuring all procedures adhere to the highest health standards and aligns with the hospital's policies and regulations.
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a pharmacist manager is likely to be skilled in "patient care," "inventory management," "allergies," and "immunization," while a typical nursing director is skilled in "term care," "home health," "resident care," and "rehabilitation."
Nursing directors make a very good living in the health care industry with an average annual salary of $83,602. On the other hand, pharmacist managers are paid the highest salary in the health care industry, with average annual pay of $100,580.Most nursing directors achieve a higher degree level compared to pharmacist managers. For example, they're 5.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 29.6% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Pharmacist manager vs. Assistant director of nursing
An assistant director of nursing is responsible for administering quality care services for patients, supervising nursing activities, and ensuring the patients' comfort under the supervision of the director of nursing. Assistant directors of nursing assist with nursing staff training, distributing shift schedules, developing comprehensive nursing care plans, handling expense reports, identifying areas of improvement with the staff performance, and securing patients' medical charts for reference. An assistant director of nursing must have excellent communication and organizational skills, especially in handling patients' medical needs.
Types of pharmacist manager
Updated January 8, 2025











