This Clinical Pharmacist Specialist - Home Based Primary Care position is in the Pharmacy Department at the VA Maine Healthcare System, located at the Togus ME location. This position is a full-time at 40 hours per week.

Duties

The Pharmacy Clinical Specialist-HBPC performs duties of a clinical and teaching nature, including direct patient care, routinely functioning with minimal supervision as an independent practitioner operating under a scope of practice. Duties include, but are not limited to: Participates in said activities thereby enhancing the delivery of clinical pharmacy services to the Home Based Primary Care (HBPC) team. Responsible for developing, organizing, coordinating and managing all aspects of clinical pharmacy functions for HBPC. Attends and participates in HBPC multidisciplinary rounds, team meetings, conferences, and other meetings as required for the purpose of making recommendations and providing consultation in all Pharmacy-related matters. Responsible for all HBPC patients registered in the program, must work independently and effectively to assure appropriate, accurate drug reviews are completed; interpret prescriptions and/or physician orders for accuracy, eligibility, availability, and cost effectiveness and therapeutic appropriateness; reviews patient medication profiles, contacts physicians and makes authorized changes in orders or prescriptions as required. Functions independently in day-to-day clinical and administrative duties associate with the position, consulting with higher level supervisors only when required. Demonstrates recognized expertise in the area of geriatrics and the HBPC Pharmacy program. Interacts with physicians and other health care professionals as demonstrated by regular attendance at HBPC multidisciplinary team meetings, medication review rounds. Works closely with physicians and nurses to monitor patient response to medications, including efficacy, safety, and outcome, with special attention to polypharmacy problems in the elderly. Performs initial and periodic assessment of patients' medication therapy, monitors as needed, and makes recommendations or changes (within scope of clinical privileges) as necessary. Manages all patients receiving anticoagulation therapy assigned to the HBPC program unless otherwise requested by the attending physician. Provides verbal and written medication information to patients or families on request and appropriate discharge counseling when necessary. Assists the HBPC section to meet all of the JCAHO medication management standards. Work Schedule: Full-Time Monday-Friday 7:30am-4:00pm Compressed/Flexible:Not authorized Telework: Yes, Telework Ad-Hoc work can be performed on an as needed basis anywhere other than a VA facility or using VA-leased space. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not authorized Functional Statement #: F05256 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Total-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf 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) Notifications: This position is in an AFGE Bargaining Unit. This position is in the Excepted Service. This position is on a special salary rate. Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees. The incumbent may be required to travel to other VA campuses and CBOC's. Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held. Narrative responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) may be required from the selectee in order to proceed with the appointment.

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: 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. License: 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. English Language Proficiency: Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d). IN ADDITION TO THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS APPLICANTS MUST MEET THE FOLLOWING: GS 12 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 GS 11, OR Completion of an ACPE-accredited Pharm.D. program. The candidate must demonstrate the experience or education above as well as the following KSAs: 1. Knowledge of professional pharmacy practice. 2. Ability to communicate orally and in writing to both patients and health care staff. 3. Knowledge of laws, regulations, and accreditation standards related to the distribution and control of scheduled and non-scheduled drugs and pharmacy security. 4. Skill in monitoring and assessing the outcome of drug therapies, including physical assessment and interpretation of laboratory and other diagnostic parameters. GS 13 Experience: In addition to the GS-12 requirements, candidates must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. 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. The candidate must demonstrate the experience above as well as the following KSAs: 1. Ability to communicate orally and in writing to persuade and influence clinical and management decisions. 2. Expert understanding of regulatory and quality standards for their program area. 3. Ability to solve problems, coordinate and organize responsibilities to maximize outcomes in their program area or area of clinical expertise. 4. Expert knowledge of a specialized area of clinical pharmacy practice or specialty area of pharmacy. 5. Advanced skill in monitoring and assessing the outcome of drug therapies, including physical assessment and interpretation of laboratory and other diagnostic parameters. References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/55 PART II APPENDIX G15 Physical Requirements: Work requires moderate lifting, walking, bending, stooping, standing, pushing, and pulling.

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

Contacts

• Address Togus VA Medical Center 1 VA Center Augusta, ME 04330 US
• Name: Donna Davies
• Phone: (603) 624-4366 X5077
• Email: [email protected]