The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this occupational series. For more information, refer to Required Documents below. The Informatics Pharmacist is administratively responsible for the assessment, design, integration, maintenance, and analysis of data delivery of Pharmacy Informatics and Pharmacy computerized systems, to include oversight of the daily operations of technical, analytical pharmacy automated data processing and management information systems.
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. English Language Proficiency. Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d). 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. 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 website 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.); OR, Graduate 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, unrestricted, and unexpired 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 a requirement for maintaining full, current, and unrestricted licensure. A pharmacist who has or has eve had, any license(s) revoked, suspended, denied, restricted, limited, or issued/placed in a probationary status may be appointed only IAW 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). Creditable Experience (1) Knowledge of Professional Pharmacy Practices. To be creditable, the experience must have demonstrated the use of knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with professional pharmacy practice. Professional practice means paid/non-paid employment as a professional or unlicensed graduate pharmacist as defined by the appropriate licensing board. (2) Residency and Fellowship Training. Residency and fellowship training programs in a specialized area of clinical pharmacy practice may be substituted for creditable experience on a year-for- year basis. The pharmacy residency program must be accredited by the American Society of Health- System Pharmacists (ASHP). A fellowship program that is not accredited by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) will need to have comparable standards for experience to be creditable (Professional Standards Board refers to the Deputy Chief Consultant for Professional Practice for the determination). (3) Quality of Experience. Qualifying experience must be at a level comparable to pharmacy experience at the next lower level. Experience as a Graduate Pharmacist is creditable provided the candidate was used as a professional pharmacist (under supervision) and subsequently passed the appropriate licensure examination. Grade Determinations: In addition to the GS-12 requirements, must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level, GS-12. An example of one year of experience at the GS-12 level would be working as a Clinical Pharmacist reviewing, interpreting, and verifying medication orders for appropriateness; processing and filling medication orders; interacting with and making recommendations to other clinical staff regarding medication therapy ordered to ensure safe and effective care; reviewing the patient's medications, allergies, labs, and other pertinent information from the medical record to identify and solve medication-related problems; contacting providers as appropriate; documenting recommendations and interventions; providing refill extensions and partial medication supplies; taking health and medication histories; performing medication reconciliation; providing drug information; assisting in formulary management including therapeutic substitutions, nonformulary reviews and medication usage evaluations; documenting and assessing adverse drug events (ADEs); assisting in medical emergencies; providing oversight of technical staff in all aspects of medication distribution. 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: 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: ASHP accredited PGY2 Pharmacy Informatics residency or equivalent certificate/training ASHP accredited PGY1 Pharmacy residency experience or equivalent experience Informatics AMIA certificate or equivalent experience Reference: 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: Must be able to distinguish basic colors with ability to distinguish shades of color. This position may require heavy lifting and carrying, 45 pounds and over. Requires routine standing, bending, and stooping/squatting. As needed - pushing, walking, standing, reaching over shoulder, use of fingers, both hands and legs required, walking and standing up to four hours per tour, near vision correctable at 13' to 16' to Jaeer 1 to 4, far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other, hearing (aid permitted).
VA Careers - Pharmacy: https://youtube.com/embed/Fn_ickNBEws Duties include but are not limited to: Responsible for managing, organizing and coordinating the Pharmacy support for modernization changes to the Cerner electronic health record system. Ensure that the application of Informatics is fluent throughout the Pharmacy Service. Coordinate and assist with the Pharmacy Service information management managerial decisions. Enhance patient safety through optimizing medication ordering capabilities and administration systems to reduce errors by monitoring such systems and error reports. Provide facility and comparative data for clinical and administrative decision making. Responsible for assessment, design, integration, modification, maintenance and analysis of data, data management services, networking and computerized medical record for Pharmacy Service to assist and support Pharmacy Service managerial decision making. Routinely work with Pharmacy Managers and ADPACs/CACs for tasks including: Create quick order sets Manage Pharmacy consult set up and maintenance Manage File 50 SQL related Manage Pharmacy site parameters with appropriate Division set up Conduct menu key reviews and report discrepancies to Chief, Pharmacy Service Manage standard medication route field Develop drug text, alerts, messages as appropriate Manage equipment interface and device validation Submit work IT and Maximo work orders, ePAS requests Develop and/or review Job Instruction Sheets Respond to PBM Formulary decisions with needed changes made to drug file Coordinate wireless technology to improve efficiencies of work Update the solution and/or additive file to correct entries for high volume/high cost medications Maintain and/or correct labor mapping through monthly validation in DSS Validate data and correct errors that may lead to invalid reports; and perform activities such as identifying and correcting cost errors, validating DSS supply mapping, identifying and correcting order classification errors, and others. Collaborate with medical center and/or community information systems to share information and participate in activities that will increase the quality of patient care. Provide education and training, which can be performed by developing written procedures, training materials, and training experiences to staff, residents, and students. Gather and interpret data about pharmacy service work processes. Troubleshoot common software problems. Evaluate current information management procedures and practices to determine how effectively current goals are being met and how services could be improved through changes in automation. Analyze Pharmacy Service hardware and software needs, streamline procedures and processes through information management automation and new technology. Maintain pharmacy computer databases/files (drug, controlled substance activities, adverse reactions, allergies, status, etc.) for optimum function of pharmacy packages and other related facility packages, ensuring uniform format and data accuracy. Create needed entries and changes in response to clinical needs, policy changes, national formulary changes, etc. to ensure the information and drug entries are current. Act on system updates. Provide oversight for assigned pharmacy and medical automation systems such as Omnicell, Alaris Guardrails, and others, to ensure that system files are maintained and processes are followed in a systematic manner with quality controls and safeguards in place. Evaluate and adjust file entries, orderable items, quick orders, and order menus for the purpose of increasing patient safety and provider efficiency by enhancing usability, reducing the likelihood of errors, and providing information for clinical decision-making. Establish and maintain informatics procedures for new programs as they are introduced into the Pharmacy, and modify existing procedures as need changes. Assess data needed, design data collection procedures, identify potential difficulties, and formulate acceptable procedures to alleviate problems and communicate data handling to include information security. Create computerized files, templates and databases to obtain automated clinical and administrative data used by the Pharmacy Service Supervisory staff to produce managerial reports for local, VISN and VA Headquarters purposes. Provide detailed formats, documentation, flowcharts, diagrams, and other information necessary to accomplish objectives. May need to travel to Yale or Pontiac CBOC's or other off-site program location for work. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00 am - 4:30 pm or subject to change based on needs of the service Telework: Ad-Hoc may be authorized by the Supervisor per Agency policy. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 914189-0 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized