The Primary Care Mental Health Integration (PCMHI) Clinical Pharmacy Specialist serves as the liaison between Primary Care and Mental Health for Primary Care patients in the PACT model. The PCMHI Clinical Pharmacy Specialist serves the Mental Health medication therapy management needs for patients in the PACT model with less complicated Mental Health Service needs. VA Careers - Pharmacy: https://youtube.com/embed/Fn_ickNBEws Total-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf

Duties

Clinical Specialty Practice-Patient Care Skills: 1) Interfaces with Primary Care providers in the design of the veteran's Mental Health treatment regimen. 2) Independently works in the assigned clinic area as a mid-level provider designing medication therapy management for Primary Care patients' mental health needs. 3) Serves as an authoritative information source on drugs and their utilization in therapy. 4) Designs dosage regimens for current pharmacokinetics principles and specific patient parameters. 5) From a verbal or written patient presentation of signs, symptoms, laboratory tests and diagnoses, recognize and list important medical problems, disease states, symptoms, or abnormal laboratory values, which may necessitate altering the therapeutic regimen. 6) Establish and expand the patient database through interpreting the drug history, medical history, physical examination, and progress notes. 7) Provides patient care utilizing an advanced in-depth knowledge of psychiatry specialized areas of pharmacy practice. 8) Participates in reporting actual and/or potential medication errors or adverse events and participates in quality improvement initiatives to promote patient safety. Actively participates in the VA Adverse Drug Event Reporting program (VA ADERS). 9) Works with the Clinic CMO and PACT team providers to ensure clinic staff adhere to formulary process so that patients receive the most efficacious and cost-effective drug treatment. 10) Evaluates of non-formulary consults in accordance with VA Criteria For Use (CFU) of non- formulary medications. 11) Provides patient medication counseling by verifying patient understanding of the medication, proper medication use, expected outcomes and how to obtain refills. Dispensing: 1) Interprets and evaluates physician orders for both accuracy and appropriateness. 2) Verifies physician medication orders in VISTA/CPRS and processes prescriptions for filling by the outpatient pharmacy. 3) Evaluates and administratively completes non-formulary drug requests from providers in a timely manner, i.e. within the 96-hour requirement designated by Central Office. 4) Prepares and dispenses medications in accordance with dosage form requirements, including routine outpatient prescriptions, compounded preparations and sterile products (including Rx admixtures). Education and Training Functions: 1) Assists in the training of new pharmacy staff. 2) Participates in in-service training programs for house staff. 3) Serves as a preceptor to students at Affiliated Schools of Pharmacy. 4) Maintains licensure in good standing. 5) Obtains and maintains Basic Cardiac Life Support Certification. 6) Completes continuing professional education required to maintain licensure and keep current with state-of-the-art professional knowledge. Supervisory Controls: A. Administrative Supervision: The Clinical Pharmacy Specialist/Practitioner (CPS/CPP) is supervised by the Chief, Pharmacy Service who reports to the Deputy Chief of Staff (DCOS) for VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System. B. Medical Supervision: The Clinical Pharmacy Specialist/Practitioner (CPS/CPP) is under the primary medical supervision of the Associate Chief of Pharmacy for Clinical Programs. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of existing pay, higher or unique qualifications, or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade). Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience. Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child. Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66. Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Telework: Available based on the needs of the organization and supervisory approval. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

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: (1) 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. Verification of approved degree programs may be obtained from the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, 20 North Clark Street, Suite 2500, Chicago, Illinois 60602-5109; phone: (312) 664-3575, or through their Web site at: http://www.acpe-accredit.org/. (NOTE: Prior to 2005 ACPE accredited both baccalaureate and Doctor of Pharmacy terminal degree program. Today the sole degree is Doctor of Pharmacy.) (2) 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, which includes passing the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Examination(FPGEE) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet-Based Test (TOEFL iBT). 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. The pharmacist must maintain current registration if this is a requirement for maintaining full, current, and unrestricted licensure. The pharmacist must maintain current registration if this is a requirement for maintaining full, current, and unrestricted licensure. A pharmacist who has, or has ever had, any license(s) revoked, suspended, denied, restricted, limited, or issued/placed in a probationary status may be appointed only in accordance with the provisions in VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, section B, paragraph 16. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019 English Language Proficiency. Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d). 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-13: In addition to the GS-12 requirements, must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. Assignments. Candidates at this grade level are to be in one of the assignments listed below. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity (difficulty) and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Clinical Pharmacy Specialist. The clinical pharmacy specialist (CPS) functions at the highest level of clinical practice, works independently under their scope of practice as defined by the individual medical center to directly care for patients. A CPS plays a defined role in budgetary execution and serves as a mid-level provider who functions to initiate, modify or discontinue medication therapy and as a consultant for intensive medication therapy management services. This includes, but is not limited to, the following: designing, implementing, assessing, monitoring and documenting therapeutic plans utilizing the most effective, least toxic and most economical medication treatments; helping achieve positive patient centric outcomes through direct and indirect interactions with patients, providers, and interdisciplinary teams in assigned areas; performing physical assessments; and ordering laboratory and other tests to help determine efficacy and toxicity of medication therapy. Pharmacists assigned to this position must demonstrate the following KSAs: a. Ability to communicate orally and in writing to persuade and influence clinical and management decisions. b. Expert understanding of regulatory and quality standards for their program area. c. Ability to solve problems, coordinate and organize responsibilities to maximize outcomes in their program area or area of clinical expertise. d. Expert knowledge of a specialized area of clinical pharmacy practice or specialty area of pharmacy. e. Advanced skill in monitoring and assessing the outcome of drug therapies, including physical assessment and interpretation of laboratory and other diagnostic parameters. Preferred Experience: PGY-2 Mental Health Residency (preferred) or PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Residency or Board Certification (minimum) Ability to develop, coordinate and assume primary responsibility for BHIP clinical pharmacy programs and services to ensure effective utilization of all resources. Ability to design specific treatment regimens based on specific disease states for mental health patients to establish appropriate therapeutic outcomes. This level of knowledge is usually characterized by at least 1 year of experience in a specialized clinical area or advanced training/certification Comprehensive knowledge of a specialized area of clinical pharmacy practice or specialty area of pharmacy such as quality assurance/utilization review, informatics systems, drug information, etc. This level of knowledge is usually characterized by at least 1 year of experience in a specialized clinical area or advanced training/certification Comprehensive knowledge of pharmaceutics, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, pharmacoeconomics, and pharmacotherapeutics. This level of knowledge is characterized by at least 1 year of experience in a specialized clinical area or advanced training/certification References: VA Handbook 5005/55 Part II Appendix G15 dated June 7, 2012. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-13. Physical Requirements: Moderate lifting/carrying (15-44 pounds); straight pulling/pushing (1 hour); reaching above shoulder; use of fingers; both hands required; walking/standing (2 hours); repeated bending (2 hours); both legs required; ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously; near vision correctable at 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4; far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other; depth perception; ability to determine basic colors; ability to distinguish shades of colors; hearing (aid may be permitted).

Education

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

Note: If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application.

Note: If your school was accredited by ACPE at the time of graduation, but is no longer listed on the ACPE website, you must provide documentation of accreditation with your application packet.

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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Contacts

• Address VA TX Valley Coastal Bend HCS 2601 Veterans Drive Harlingen, TX 78550 US
• Name: VISN 17 SSU USAS Group
• Email: [email protected]