The Outpatient Pharmacy Technician- Clinical Pharmacy Technician has a primary focus of providing exceptional care to our Veterans by ensuring timely, accurate responses to questions/concerns in the form of view alerts & telephone communication, quality assurance monitoring, & providing the logistical & automation support necessary to consistently supply our outpatient clinics with medications &pharmaceutical supplies.

Duties

The Outpatient Pharmacy Technician- Clinical Pharmacy Technician has a primary focus of providing exceptional care to our veterans by ensuring timely, accurate responses to questions/concerns in the form of view alerts and telephone communication, quality assurance monitoring, and providing the logistical and automation support necessary to consistently supply our outpatient clinics with medications and pharmaceutical supplies. The technician must use automated pharmacy equipment and reports to send/fill medications and maintain adequate stock levels of medications and supplies. The incumbent is expected to maintain a high degree of accurate productivity and performance while being extremely sensitive to the specific contribution to total patient care. As assigned, the incumbent is expected to accomplish all duties normally performed by both general and specialized technicians (GS-661-5/6/7) related to stocking, delivering, inventory inspections, prescription set-ups, controlled substances dispensing and monitoring, telephone care, and unit-dose drug packaging, dispensing, and distribution. position provides various technical support services within the pharmacy department and may function in various areas of the pharmacy. All assigned clinical activities and functions will be completed in accordance with approved clinical pharmacy protocols. On-site certification of clinical competency will be completed prior to performing assigned clinical functions. This technician, as a member of the Outpatient Pharmacy section, functions under the supervision of the Outpatient, Pharmacy Supervisor, or a registered pharmacist. Clinical Responsibilities: Provides electronic or telephone triage and patient follow-up as the primary contact for all veteran questions/concerns that come through via telephone or electronic medical record. Routinely reviews computer medication profile for prescription duplication, therapeutic duplication, prescription noncompliance, and allergies/adverse drug reactions. Reports identified patients to assigned clinical pharmacist or clinical pharmacy specialist for evaluation. Ensures timely resolution of veteran questions/concerns by either finding the solution/answer or triaging to the most appropriate contact. Provides supplemental reinforcement education for patients concerning operational issues or need for medication compliance. Automation Responsibilities: Primary contact for the pharmacy outpatient ward stock program and a member of the automated dispensing cabinet request program. Coordinates automated dispensing cabinet loading when required. Communicates with Procurement for any medication needs that are not typically stocked. Analyzes and runs reports on automated dispensing cabinets. Distributive Functions: Dispensing of Outpatient medication to patients at the pharmacy window while providing exceptional customer service. Also ensures two patient identifiers are utilized when dispensing medications and patient signatures for medication pick up are obtained. Processing and filling outpatient prescriptions for scheduled and non- scheduled federal legend drugs and medical devices, over-the-counter products and supply items in compliance with regulations and policies and procedures. Assists in the packaging and dispensing of Outpatient medication to patients for window, mail and UPS prescriptions. Procurement/Formulary Responsibilities: Provides information to pharmacy procurement personnel regarding medications and supplies needed from the warehouse or wholesaler by reviewing items used that day and automation reports. Works with pharmacy procurement personnel to manage out of stock items and assures the items are filled as soon as stock is available. Assists in inventory control through understanding the entirety of the procurement process. Provides information to veterans and other services lines regarding formulary. Other Significant Responsibilities: Provision of orientation and training to Pharmacy Technician students assigned to their area. Inspection of assigned areas on a monthly basis. Assist in preparing for special accreditations and reviews (e.g. The JC, IG, SOARS, ASHP) and meet with reviewing/inspecting officials and/or pharmacy management. Participation in the orientation, education, and training of new employees or employees introduced to selected practice areas. Responsibility for keeping abreast of changes in the Pharmacy Service (i.e., interdepartmental memoranda, relevant station memoranda, and policies and procedures. Additionally, maintains a general knowledge of VA, DEA and JC regulations. Completes mandatory training determined by the medical center. Maintains Certification by the National Pharmacy Technician Certification Board. Other duties as assigned Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 0800-1630 OVERTIME/WEEKEND/HOLIDAY WORK REQUIRED Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to a background/security investigation
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met. Basic Requirements: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Education or Experience. A high school diploma or equivalent; or at least 3 months experience. Certification. Certification by the National Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) is required at grades GS-6 and above. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019. English Language Proficiency. Pharmacy technicians appointed to direct patient care positions must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with chapter 2, section D, paragraph 5a, this part. 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). Grade Determinations GS-7: Experience. One year experience at the next lower level and must fully meet the KSAs at the next lower level. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following technical KSAs and the potential to acquire the assignment specific KSAs designated by an asterisk (*): *1. Ability to evaluate, analyze workflow, and coordinate work activities. 2. Ability to independently gather, evaluate, and analyze data to generate reports and/or for other projects/statistical purposes. 3. Knowledge of pharmacy policies and procedures sufficient to train and orient new employees and other staff 4. Comprehensive knowledge of the operation and care of specialized pharmaceutical equipment. 5. Comprehensive knowledge of the procurement and formulary process. 6. Comprehensive knowledge of investigational drug policies and procedures. 7. Comprehensive knowledge of controlled substance policies and procedures, and the ability to identify and investigate discrepancies in these policies and procedures. 8. Comprehensive knowledge of, and ability to, analyze data in VA information systems. References: VA Handbook 5005/15, Appendix G28 Physical Requirements: Duties may require sitting, standing, walking, bending, stooping, or kneeling for extended periods of time. Ability to lift/push/pull light loads, carts weighing 40 pounds or more. Ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination. Normal range for hearing and vision.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address Ralph H Johnson Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center 109 Bee Street Charleston, SC 29401 US
• Name: Deirdre Martinez
• Phone: 334-590-9769
• Email: [email protected]