Pharmacy Technician

Summary This position functions in the Pharmacy Service Clinical Section. The clinical pharmacy technician is a certified pharmacy technician with advanced skills who will provide administrative, clerical, and clinical support to support Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner (CPP) workload. Responsibilities Duties Include: Pull data vis the electronic health record (EHR) on all new patients who are new to the Clinical Pharmacy section and add to excel sheet to complete medication history. Interviews patients (families/caregivers as appropriate), to develop an accurate list of medications, strengths, and dosages the patient has been taking. Interviews patients for any over the counter medications and/or herbal product. Obtains relevant patient information from patient interviews, assisted living facilities (ALF's), and nursing homes using joint legacy viewer (JLV) with department of defense (DOD) partners. Document adverse reactions and allergies in EHR based upon patient report. Review any patient compliance issues based on the interview and refill history. Document in the EHR. Adheres to medical center policy regarding timely signature of all health record documentation. Add the CPP as an additional cosigner to pertinent notes in the EHR, as directed. Contacts and collaborates with other healthcare providers in the facility as deemed appropriate. Reviews all encounters, consults, unsigned notes, and user alerts daily and notify CPP for completion, if needed. Reports to supervisor as informational. The incumbent will also triage telephone calls from patients, family members, and/or caregivers to address a variety of issues, evaluate the problem, and provide an appropriate solution or refer to the problem expeditiously to the pharmacist when the problem is beyond the technician's level of knowledge or expertise. Review population management dashboard/databases to identify patients requiring intervention and proactively contacts those patients to initiate intervention within the scope/protocol of the clinical pharmacy technician. The clinical pharmacy technician is proficient in obtaining all vital signs and point of care (POC) labs (e.g., glucose) and documenting subsequent values appropriately in the electronic medical chart. The incumbent can take data provided by patients in the form of home logs and compile the data for interpretation by the clinical pharmacy specialist. Additionally, the clinical pharmacy technician is familiar with procedures to upload data from glucometers or other POC machines for review by the CPP. Assists decentralized pharmacists and other members of the interdisciplinary health care team in ensuring safe and effective care transitions and patient satisfaction throughout the discharge process. Educates patients to use of video conferencing visits. My HealthVet medication profile view and refill use, secure messaging and other technologies as needed. Follow all established protocols and SOPs within the pharmacy service, including those specific to pharmacy technicians. Other duties, as assigned. Work Schedule: Employees may be required to work day, evening, night, weekend, holiday and/or compressed tours on a rotating schedule. The hours may vary per the needs of the service and will rotate on a fair and equitable basis, to include weekends and holidays. Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade). Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience. Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child. Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66. Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 82024F Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job. All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959. Must be proficient in written and spoken English. Subject to background/security investigation. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements ( Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Must pass pre-employment physical evaluation/examination. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. 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. Be a citizen of the United States. Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with38 U.S.C. § 7407(a). Education or Experience. (1)None required. (2)For all grade levels and positions that accept both education and experience to qualify, equivalent combinations of qualifying education and experience that total at least 100% are qualifying. The combined percentage is determined by adding total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level to the education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level. Certification. For positions above the full performance level, the employee must pass a national certification exam and hold an active national certification through either: (1)Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB), Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT). OR(2)National Health career Association (NHA), Certified Pharmacy Technician(ExCPT). 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). Foreign Education. To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must be deemed at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. program by a private organization specializing in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service. English Language Proficiency. Pharmacy Technician candidates must beproficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). Grade Determinations: Pharmacy Technician, GS-08. Experience. Candidates must possess one year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level and demonstrate the KSAs below. Certification. For positions above the full performance level, the employee must pass a national certification exam and hold an active national certification through either: (a)PTCB as a CPhT. OR (b)NHA as a ExCPT. Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs for all GS-08assignments and meet any additional KSAs for the assignment, if indicated: (a)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.) Note: See Specialized Area.in the Definitions Section. (b)Skill in training and orienting new and existing pharmacy facility employees and students on proper policies and procedures. (c)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 at this grade level may be appointed to one of the following assignments: Pharmacy Technician. 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. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-8. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service. Light carrying, under 15 lbs.; Reaching above shoulder; Use of fingers; Both hands required; Walking (up to 4 hours); Standing (up to 4 hours); Both legs required; Both eyes required; Ability to distinguish basic colors; Ability to distinguish shades of colors; Hearing (aid permitted). 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: 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: Additional Information During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status. VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.