Pharmacist(Clinical Specialist) - Ambulatory Care Mental Health

01Basic Requirements

Citizenship: Citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g, this part.) 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 Web site at: http://vvww.acpe-accredit.orgt (NOTE: Prior to 2005 ACPE accredited both baccalaureate and Doctor of Pharmacy terminal degree program.

Today the sole degree is Doctor of Pharmacy.) 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).

02Licensure

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. English Language Proficiency: Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d).

Grandfathering provision: 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).

03Grade Determinations

In addition to the basic requirements for employment in paragraph 2, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates: Grade Determinations: GS-13 Clinical Pharmacy Specialist Experience. In addition to the GS-12 requirements, must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. 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.

04Preferred Experience

PGY 1 Pharmacy Practice, PGY 2 Psychaitric Pharmacy Practice, or equivalent psychaitric pharmacy practice experience. 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 Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

05Physical Requirements

The work environment is an inpatient pharmacy, an outpatient pharmacy or a patient care area environment (including the Surgical Suite or Emergency Department). Home visits may be required in the Home-Based Primary Care role. B. There may be extremes of temperature, distractions, noise from equipment or patient care activities. Handles frozen and refrigerated products often. May be required to use heating equipment. Exposure to negative and positive air pressure rooms is also possible.

Must be able to don/doff protective garments and use equipment as necessary for assignment. May work with cleaning and disinfecting products occasionally. C. Must have the use of fingers; both hands required; Twisting and grasping of bottles and vials or syringes occurs frequently. D. Some lifting (25 lbs.), stretching and forward and overhead reaching is involved. Walking and standing 8-12 hours; repeated bending 8 hours; both legs required.

May have to kneel to retrieve product(s) from lower cabinets or the floor. E. Must be able to rapidly coordinate mental and muscular duties simultaneously. Computer keyboard activity and computer monitor use is frequently performed. May be required to operate robotic packaging machinery and automated dispensing devices. F. Fine motor skills (for packaging and counting) and excellent visual acuity (for expiration date, tablet identification, and prescription interpretation) are required. G.

Near vision correctable @ 13" to 16" to Jaeger 1 to 4; far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other, depth perception; ability to distinguish shades of colors. H. Hearing acuity is required for phone communication, patient counseling and professional communication (hearing aid use is permitted). I. The incumbent may be exposed to infected patients and contaminated materials. J.

The incumbent may occasionally be exposed to patients who are combative secondary to delirium, dementia, or psychiatric disorders. K. The incumbent must be a mature, flexible sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations and able to shift priorities based on patient needs. Works closely with others. May have protracted or irregular hours of work. Shift rotation is commonly required.

VA Careers - Pharmacy: https://youtube.com/embed/Fn_ickNBEws Clinical Practice: The Ambulatory Care Mental Health Clinical Pharmacy Specialist: Promotes the appropriate, economical, safe, and effective use of medication therapy through maintaining an independent Mental Health Ambulatory Clinical Pharmacy practice site. Maintains collaborative and comprehensive medication therapy management clinics and services in designated areas of practice, under a scope of practice.

This shall include physical assessment, ordering laboratory and diagnostic tests necessary to manage medication therapy, referring patients to appropriate health care providers as needed, performing patient triage functions and independently initiating, adjusting and discontinuing medications.

Delivers direct care to patients through a variety of modalities which may include but are not limited to: Face-to-face, telephone, video/telemedicine, e-consults, chart reviews, shared medical appointments, drop-in group medical appointments, group education classes and/or secured messaging interactions. Documents encounters and clinical decisions in Electronic Health Record (EHR) progress notes.

Utilizes Pharmacists Achieve Results with Medication Documentation (PhARMD) Tool to track disease state and other clinical interventions. Responds to alerts sent by other members of the health care team. Maintains a collaborative case management relationship with registered nurse case/care managers and nurse practitioners within designated practice areas.

The CPS provides appropriate independent medication changes including initiation, adjustment, and discontinuation for patients seen and evaluated and/or presented to the CPS and deemed to be within the CPS scope of practice for disease state management. Provides medication extensions when prescribing provider is not available. Critically reviews prior authorization drug requests according to criteria for use, appropriateness, safety, cost-effectiveness and utilizing evidence-based decision-making.

Provides professional consultative services related to their designated area of practice. Professional consultative services include but are not limited to extensive drug information services, formulary management, and medication recommendations. Work Schedule: 7:30am - 4:00pm, Negotiable Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized