The Clinical Pharmacy Specialist (CPS) will function as a vital member of their assigned Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT), serving as an advanced practice provider to initiate, modify, or discontinue medication therapy. The CPS will also be an advocate for evidence-based treatments as an Academic Detailer for our facility, interacting and creating connections directly with prescribers to make substantial impacts to our patients!

Duties

VA Careers - Pharmacy: https://youtube.com/embed/Fn_ickNBEws Major Duties include but are not limited to: Clinical Practice: Executes therapeutic plans utilizing the safest and most cost-effective medication treatments. Performs objective assessments necessary to ensure the patient's appropriate clinical responses to therapy. Orders, subsequent review, and action on appropriate laboratory tests and other diagnostic studies necessary to monitor, support, and modify the patient's drug therapy. Orders and prescribes medications, vaccines, devices, and supplies to include: initiation, continuation, discontinuation, monitoring, and altering therapy. Conducts encounters with patients (face to face, telephone, VA Video Connect, Clinical Video Telehealth). Provides drug information, observations on patient response to therapy, and develops appropriate treatment plans regarding treatment alternatives or additional interventions to maximize patient care outcomes taking into consideration choice of therapy, safety, efficacy, and pharmacoeconomics. Follows-up with patients in a timely manner and monitors for drug therapy response, potential adverse drug reactions, allergies, compliance, laboratory results, and other monitoring measures as appropriate; treatment plan adjustments are made accordingly based on assessed measures. Promotes and monitors compliance for established drug therapy policies. Coordinates with and refers to appropriate diagnosing providers when disease progression or events occur that are outside the CPS provider SOP. Reviews literature routinely to provide an evaluation of efficacy, safety, and cost-effectiveness for routine patient care and projects as assigned. Assists with Medication Use Evaluations (MUE) and other Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P&T) Committee related activities. Promotes and monitors compliance for established drug therapy policies in accordance with VHA/DoD guidance or latest evidence-based practice. Performs data analysis to measure performance/outcomes and trend changes to develop reports providing comparative data on clinician panels. Works with providers to ensure compliance with national, VISN, and local initiatives. Uses appropriate references to research drug information and serves as an expert on drug usage, interactions, over-dosages, and compliance to medical staff, nursing staff, technicians, and students. Provides timely and accurate responses to drug information inquiries from all customers. Serves on medical center and/or VISN committees as requested. Academic Detailing (AD): Manages assigned AD program(s) requiring coordination of multiple locations such as medical center care facilities, CBOCs, rural health, etc. Advocates for innovation and change through committee involvement. Sets and meets priorities, attends identified priority meetings, follows through on commitments, safeguards information, organizes and uses time and resources to achieve desired results. Recognizes detailing opportunities and promotes implementation of new or improved programs/tools/methods for communication that would be considered innovative/forward thinking. Fosters professional growth through mentorship to advance the practice of AD. Conducts strategically scheduled AD outreach visits with clinicians and other members of the healthcare team for National, VISN and/or local AD initiatives. Achieves the appropriate number of outreach visits. Accurately documents outreach visits and supportive activities in Salesforce in a timely manner. Education: Participates in the training and in-servicing of Pharmacists, Pharmacy Technicians, Pharmacy Students/Residents, and other medical center personnel as required. Includes development of educational material. Effectively instructs patients and family members in the appropriate use of medications and medical devices. Adjust communication and tracking methods based on age and developmental considerations. Accurately assess and document patient comprehension. Refers patients to educational programs provided at the medical center by multidisciplinary teams. Serves as preceptor for Pharmacy Students and Pharmacy Residents in accordance with established protocols and standards. Assists in the development of proposals for improved and/or new clinical Pharmacy services. Quality Assurance (QA) and Improvement: Assists with the QA program within Pharmacy Service as it relates to clinical practice. Maintains QA data for their clinical practice focus. Is an active participant in all facets of the PPE program as designated by Associate Chief, Clinical Pharmacy Programs or designee. Performs other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 7:30am - 4:00pm Compressed/Flexible:Not Authorized Telework: Available - Ad-hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

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. 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. NOTE: Individuals who have or have had multiple licenses and had any such license revoked for professional misconduct, professional incompetence or substandard care, or who surrendered such license after receiving written notice of potential termination of such license by the State for professional misconduct, professional incompetence, or substandard care, are not eligible for appointment to the position unless such revoked or surrendered license is fully restored (38 USC.§ 7402(j)). Effective November 30, 1999, this is a requirement for employment. This requirement does not apply to licensed pharmacists on VA rolls as of that date, provided they maintain continuous appointment and are not disqualified for employment by any subsequent revocations or voluntary surrenders of State license, registration or certification. English Language Proficiency: Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d). Grade Determination, GS-13 Clinical Pharmacist: In addition to the basic requirements for employment listed above, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. Experience: In addition to the above requirements, you must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level, GS-12. Demonstrate Knowledge Skills and Abilities (KSAs): Pharmacists assigned to this position must demonstrate the following KSAs: Ability to communicate orally and in writing to persuade and influence clinical and management decisions. Expert understanding of regulatory and quality standards for their program area. Ability to solve problems, coordinate and organize responsibilities to maximize outcomes in their program area or area of clinical expertise. Expert knowledge of a specialized area of clinical pharmacy practice or specialty area of pharmacy. Advanced skill in monitoring and assessing the outcome of drug therapies, including physical assessment and interpretation of laboratory and other diagnostic parameters. Preferred Experience: Highly desirable candidates will have PGY-1 Pharmacy Practice Residency with at least 3 years experience in VA Primary Care or PGY-2 Ambulatory Care Residency training References: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13. Physical Requirements: See VA Handbook 5019.

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 Erie VA Medical Center 135 East 38th Street Erie, PA 16504 US
• Name: Ahsha Konate
• Phone: 412-822-1454
• Email: [email protected]