[Hiring] Clinical Pharmacist @VHA VISN 20 Human Resources

Role Description

The incumbent serves as a Clinical Pharmacist (CP) in a VISN Clinical Contact Center (CCC) as part of an interdisciplinary healthcare team. The Clinical Pharmacist is responsible for providing optimal clinical and pharmaceutical care activities in the VISN CCC in accordance with the department's mission, vision, and goals.

The VISN CCC Clinical Pharmacist's primary responsibility is the utilization of evidence-based pharmaceutical care services through direct interactions with patients and providers as well as the safe provision of pharmaceuticals and medication information in a timely manner. This pharmacist promotes and manages drug therapy based on current clinical knowledge and established policies. Responsibilities also include but are not limited to:

• Professionally receives and handles escalated telephone calls from and responds to Veterans, their family members and/or legal representatives regarding a broad range of pharmaceutical topics.
• Monitors provider's orders for appropriateness of therapy and reports drug errors, adverse drug reactions, allergies, incompatibilities, side effects and patient compliance issues and appropriately interacts with the ordering provider or attending as needed.
• Actively reviews patient medication regimens for cost effective drug selection, dosing, contraindications, therapeutic duplication, appropriate route and method of administration, drug interactions, and therapeutic outcomes as required.
• Utilizes patient care information systems such as VistA, CPRS and Cerner to obtain critical patient data elements and to document clinical interventions and other pertinent patient care issues in a timely and professional manner.
• Manages recalls and medication shortage situations by substituting alternate dosage strengths or products per facility policy.
• Enters supply orders appropriate for patient care per VISN CCC policy.
• Manages various actions, as appropriate, for medication orders to include flagging prescriptions, managing view alerts, using the "hold" function, and generating unsigned discontinued orders using the "service reject" function.
• Reviews prescription renewal verification requests and takes appropriate action to extend refills until the next scheduled appointment under the provider's name per VISN CCC policy.
• Obtains medication histories from patients and summarizes significant findings in the medical record and/or to the provider as appropriate.
• Performs medication reconciliation at all transitions of care, including updating the medication profile to reflect an accurate, active list of VA and non-VA medications.
• Applies knowledge of normal laboratory values in the evaluation of patient care and recognizes significant abnormalities.
• Reviews and evaluates requests for non-formulary and restricted drugs for appropriateness and compliance with established criteria where applicable.
• Has a good working knowledge of information resources such as Micromedex, Clinical Pharmacology, Up To Date, Facts & Comparisons, or other relevant pharmaceutical references, both written and electronic.
• Participates in continuous daily improvement, Unit Practice Councils and similar quality improvement initiatives.
• Participates in the training and in-servicing of pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, pharmacy residents, pharmacy students, and other medical center personnel as required.

Work Schedule: Tuesday - Saturday, 11:00am - 7:30pm, PST (may vary based on department need to cover CCC Pharmacy operating hours Mon-Sun 7am -7pm PST)

Remote: This is a remote position

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Qualifications

• To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement.
• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• English Language Proficiency: Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d).
• Education:
  • Graduate of an Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) accredited College or School of Pharmacy with a baccalaureate degree in pharmacy (BS Pharmacy) and/or a Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D.) degree.
  • Graduates of foreign pharmacy degree programs meet the educational requirement if the graduate is able to provide proof of achieving the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Examination Commission (FPGEC) Certification.
• Licensure: Full, current and unrestricted license to practice pharmacy in a State, Territory, Commonwealth of the United States (i.e., Puerto Rico), or the District of Columbia.
• May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).

Requirements

• GS-12 Clinical Pharmacist (Full Performance Level) Experience or Education. In addition to the basic requirements, candidates must meet one of the following:
  • 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level.
  • Completion of an ACPE-accredited Pharm.D. program.
• Pharmacists assigned to this position must demonstrate the following knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs):
  • Knowledge of professional pharmacy practice.
  • Ability to communicate orally and in writing to both patients and health care staff.
  • Knowledge of laws, regulations, and accreditation standards related to the distribution and control of scheduled and non-scheduled drugs and pharmacy security.
  • Skill in monitoring and assessing the outcome of drug therapies, including physical assessment and interpretation of laboratory and other diagnostic parameters.

Preferred Experience

• Two years of outpatient or retail pharmacy experience as a licensed pharmacist.
• Ability to multi-task in a fast paced work environment.
• Ability to self-resolve technical/computer issues.
• Very strong customer service skills.

Reference

For more information on this qualification standard, please visit VA Qualification Standards .