The Pharmacy Technician is responsible for the receiving, assessing for appropriateness, and processing of all Care in the Community prescriptions for the approval by the Care in the Community Clinical Pharmacist. The Pharmacy Technician assists the Care in the Community Clinical Pharmacist in all daily tasks concerning Non-VA prescribed prescriptions.

Duties

Functions of the Position: The Clinical Pharmacy Technician for Care in the Community will participate in review of all Care in the Community in the Community prescriptions that enter the facility. 'A/ill be responsible for reviewing formulary status of the medications. For those that require a prior authorization/criteria for use/imaging/laboratory data will ensure all information is received from the external provider before providing to the Lovell FHCC Pharmacist for clinical review. This will require electronic health record review and communication to external medical offices. The incumbent will assist the department in administrative duties as assigned including patient and health care professional contact, data collection and analysis, entry of information into patient data bases, chart review and drug information. The incumbent is also responsible for filling, dispensing, procurement, storage, preparation, review, distribution and control of medications/other pharmaceutical/supply products to patients. Major Duties and Responsbilities: A. Program Management -Receives faxed, mailed, electronically prescribed, or delivered prescriptions written by Non-VA providers and documents all received prescriptions in CPRS. -Reviews HealthNet (Choice) and CPRS to determine authorization of Care in the Community by the CAPT James A. Lovell FHCC. -Communicates with patients concerning prescriptions received from unauthorized provider visits and handles prescriptions appropriately, whether forwarding to primary care provider or returning to patient. -Reviews authorized prescriptions for appropriateness using pharmacy technician knowledge, as well as knowledge concerning the national drug formulary and local VA formulary requirements. -Communicates with Non-VA physicians and nurses to request clarification of prescriptions or medication changes due to VA formulary and forwards all changes and clarifications to a licensed pharmacist to receive from the Non-VA representative. -Initiates the non-formulary/prior authorization process with the Non-VA provider and records needed documentation in CPRS and workflow file. -Follows up via phone and/or fax with Non-VA Provider regarding initiated communications concerning non-formulary/prior authorization medications, clarifications, or medication change requests. B. Telephone Triage -Answers the Care in the Community Pharmacy line and handle all phone calls not requiring a Pharmacist. -Utilizes pharmacy information systems to answer patient or provider questions related to status of their prescription(s), completion date, package tracking, etc. -Educates patients on how to use the automated phone service. -Transfers calls to the Care in the Community pharmacist, when needed and appropriate. -Documents all phone conversations in CPRS for future reference. C. Educational -Participates in the development and implementation of formal and informal drug education/clinical consultation to medical, surgical, nursing, and pharmacy staff in the form of in-services and continuing education programs. -Interfaces with other health-care providers and administrators to ensure compliance with established pharmacy and medical center policies and procedures. -Participates in clinical conferences, newsletters, and other types of educational forums for health professionals on topics related to practice area. -Actively participates in research projects either by acting as a consultant. -Designs or participates in clinical pharmacy research activities and projects which serve to upgrade the quality of patient care provided at the Veterans Affairs Hospital. D. Administration: -Works with health care providers to develop programs for improvement of medication use. -Develops and conducts medication usage evaluation in areas of needs from a cost and patient outcome perspective. -Documents cost reduction/cost avoidance activities on a periodic basis.??????? -Manages the hospital formulary and ensures its appropriate utilization by health care providers and ensures to complete all aspects of formulary process per VHA Directives. -Accurately completes all assignments (VATAS/TMS/BLS) in a timely manner as defined by the Supervisor. VA Careers - Pharmacy: https://youtube.com/embed/Fn_ickNBEws Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 0730-1600 Telework: Not Available. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Title/Functional Statement #:Pharmacy Technician - Care in the Community/PD000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

Preferred Experience: Possess a current Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT) or ExCPT with an understanding of the goals, objectives and performance measures associated with Pharmacy Operations. 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) or National Health Career Association (NHA)? is required at grades GS-7 and above. English Language Proficiency: Pharmacy technicians appointed to direct patient care positions must be proficient in spoken and written English. Grade Determinations:GS-8 Level: One year experience at the next lower level, and must fully meet the KSAs at the next lower level. -Knowledge of pharmacy technician principles, practices, concepts and theories providing for sound independent work. -Knowledge of the computerized prescription process and input of prescriptions and medication orders or electronic equivalent. -Ability to resolve pharmacy/medication issues with other members of the healthcare team, Veterans and external customers. -Ability to train developmental pharmacy technicians and students. -Ability to dispense medication or sterile products following all regulations, policies and procedures to ensure safe medication distribution. -Ability to troubleshoot automated dispensing equipment (ADE) or technology platforms/databases. In addition, the candidate must demonstrate the following technical KSAs. -Comprehensive knowledge of concepts, principles, methodology and policies in a specialized area or section of pharmacy (such as sterile compounding, controlled substances, automation, clinical pharmacy, contact center, etc.) -Skill in training and orienting new and existing pharmacy facility employees and students on proper policies and procedures. -Ability to evaluate, analyze and coordinate workflow and work activities within a specialized area or section of the pharmacy. Assignments. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity and range of variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Pharmacy technicians at this level have a higher level of responsibility for specialized areas of pharmacy and are expected to independently carry out assigned tasks of considerable difficulty. Pharmacy technicians in this assignment specialize in areas such as sterile compounding, oncology, controlled substances, medication history review, clinical specialist (anticoagulation, pain, infectious diseases), clinical informatics, automation, immunizations and any other specialized area in the advancement of the profession. The pharmacy technician will serve as a subject matter expert and key resource in the day-to-day technician duties of the specialized area. The technician will be performing assignments such as compounding sterile products, filling controlled substance prescriptions while maintaining compliance with Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) regulations, taking medication histories and counseling patients, managing automation, managing workflow and training and orienting staff in the specialized area. Certification: PTCB or NHA certification is required at this grade level and above. Physical Requirements: Employees are typically expected to work forty hours per week. This may include evenings, midnights, weekends and/or holidays as assigned. Principle duties require repetitive use of hands and fingers (e.g., preparing IV admixtures, use of a computer keyboard, etc.). May require lifting and carrying light loads (up to 44Ibs.), including boxes, equipment, unit dose-cassettes, and IV solutions; stooping or kneeling (e.g., to pick up items from the floor, remove and replace items on lower shelves, and to file documents in lower file drawers, etc.); sitting, walking, or standing for long periods of time (4-8 hours). Normal ranges of hearing and vision are required to perform work and communicate effectively; must have the visual ability to distinguish between basic colors and shades of color. An ability to perform tasks requiring rapid mental and muscular coordination functions simultaneously is necessary. Employees must be physically capable of operating various types of equipment used on the job. Employees may be required to work at various pharmacy locations as assigned.

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 Captain James A Lovell Federal Health Care Center 3001 Green Bay Road North Chicago, IL 60064 US
• Name: Doug Madel
• Phone: 608-667-6533
• Email: [email protected]