The Internal Medicine Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner (CPP) functions as a member of their assigned medical team, working with a high level of autonomy and independent decision-making within the parameters of their scope of practice. The CPP will provide comprehensive medication management through direct and indirect interactions with patients and providers to help achieve positive patient centric outcomes.

Duties

Duties include but are not limited to the following: Clinical - Direct Patient Care Activities that require a scope of practice - Functions as a mid-level provider to design, implement, adjust, and monitor therapeutic drug plans to achieve definite outcomes through direct interactions with patients and providers in assigned areas - Orders, performs, reviews, and analyzes appropriate laboratory tests and other diagnostic studies necessary to monitor and support the patient's drug therapy. - Orders consults (i.e., Nutrition, Social work, Prosthetics) as needed to maximize positive drug therapy outcomes. - Participates in daily rounds with their assigned medical team and provides drug information, observations on patient response to therapy, and appropriate recommendations regarding treatment alternatives or additional interventions to maximize patient outcomes taking into consideration choice of therapy, safety, efficacy, cost, and formulary issues. - Performs targeted disease-state management to optimize therapy of chronic conditions (examples include Diabetes, Heart Failure, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) that led to admission and facilitates handoff to appropriate specialty or primary care team for further management - Performs pharmacokinetic monitoring and dose adjustment, renal dose adjustments, anticoagulant therapy management, and antimicrobial stewardship as needed. - Alerts medical team when disease progression or adverse drug events occur that require treatment interventions. - Perform physical assessments as needed to monitor the efficacy and safety of drug therapy. Clinical - Indirect Patient Care Activities - Review patient medication regimens for clinical effectiveness, drug selection, dosing, contraindications, side effects, potential drug interactions, and therapeutic outcomes as required. Communicates findings to prescribers and provides appropriate alternatives to current treatment plans as needed. - Serves as an expert on drug usage in assigned area for medical and nursing staff. Uses appropriate references to research drug information. - Performs medication reconciliation upon admission, transfer and discharge, as needed, in collaboration with the transition of care clinical pharmacists and technicians and informs healthcare providers of any discrepancies found. - Assesses the educational needs of patients and caregivers and effectively instructs patients and family members in the appropriate use of medications and medical devices. Can adjust communication and tracking methods based on age and developmental considerations. Can accurately assess and document patient comprehension. Can refer patients to educational programs provided at the medical center. - Monitors, reports and documents drug errors, adverse drug reactions, allergies, and patient compliance issues. - Reviews and evaluates non-formulary/prior authorization drug requests for appropriateness and compliance with established criteria. - Assists Pharmacy and Therapeutics committee with medication use evaluations and other safety initiatives. - Works with providers to ensure compliance with national, VISN, and local initiatives. - Reviews and verifies medication orders for appropriateness and to reduce potential risk of adverse drug events. Education and Research - Employs effective written and verbal communication techniques in teaching others. - Provides educational presentations to students, residents, and professional healthcare staff to enhance their knowledge and skills and to promote appropriate, safe and effective drug use. - Serves as preceptor for pharmacy students and/or pharmacy residents and actively participates in student/resident presentations, journal clubs and preceptor development activities. - Assists with the education and training of new pharmacy staff members in assigned areas. - Actively collaborates with other health care providers in the design and implementation of research protocols, activities, or projects to enhance the quality of patient care provided by the VA Healthcare System. Administrative - Actively participates in self-development activities and completes annual competencies to maintain professional competence in assigned practice area - Documents clinical activities and workload in CPRS accurately, timely and professionally, including completion of all consults and encounter forms. - Actively engages in process improvement, practice expansion, and/or best practice development or adoption activities to improve patient care, work efficiency, or financial stewardship. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 0700-1530 Telework: (Adhoc) As determined by agency policy. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 40189F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

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: Citizenship: 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, Illinois60602-5109; 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). (3) 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. 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 (a) Experience. In addition to the GS-12 requirements, must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. (b) 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. 1. 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: PGY1, PGY2 Internal Medicine, Board Certification in Pharmacotherapy Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and 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 Robley Rex VA Medical Center 800 Zorn Avenue Louisville, KY 40206 US
• Name: Israel Washington
• Phone: (561) 817-0957
• Email: [email protected]