Pharmacy Specialist - Behavioral Health Services

At Henry Ford Health, we're committed to advancing health and improving lives for the millions of people we serve across Michigan and around the world. As one of the nation's leading academic health systems, we provide a comprehensive continuum of care that includes primary and preventive services, specialty and complex care, virtual care, pharmacy, home health, eye care, health insurance, and more. With 12 hospitals and hundreds of ambulatory care locations, including former Ascension Southeast Michigan and Flint Region facilities, our growing network expands access to exceptional care in the communities we serve.

Headquartered in Detroit, Henry Ford Health is helping shape the future of healthcare through the transformative Future of Health: Detroit initiative, a $3 billion investment that is redefining our academic healthcare campus and advancing innovation, research, education, and community impact.

Our work is grounded in purpose, collaboration, and belonging. We empower team members to grow their careers, contribute innovative ideas, and make a meaningful difference every day. Whether you're caring for patients, supporting operations, conducting research, or driving new solutions, you'll be part of a team united by a shared mission: delivering exceptional care, advancing health outcomes, and building healthier communities for all.

Job Description

GENERAL SUMMARY:

Location: Brighton, MI

This pharmacist position serves as the pharmacy expert for Behavioral Health Services within the Henry Ford Pharmacy Enterprise, with primary responsibility for the Brighton Center for Recovery (BCR). The position provides clinical and operational leadership to ensure safe, effective, evidence-based, and regulatory-compliant medication management while partnering with the Centralized Pharmacy Services Center (CPSC), inpatient & outpatient pharmacy services, nursing, physicians, and enterprise leadership to standardize and continuously improve behavioral health pharmacy services.

PRINCPLE DUTIES & RESPONSBILITIES:

• Clinical Pharmacy Services: Supports comprehensive medication management for patients receiving treatment for substance use disorders, as well as psychiatric and chronic medical conditions. Participate in interdisciplinary treatment planning and optimize medication therapy utilizing current evidence-based guidelines.
• Medication Safety and Regulatory Compliance: Lead medication safety initiatives by monitoring high-alert medications, controlled substances, medication storage, medication-use processes, and regulatory compliance. Ensure adherence to DEA, Michigan Board of Pharmacy, CMS, Joint Commission, and Henry Ford Health policies and standards.
• Behavioral Health Medication Management: Develop, implement, and optimize medication-use processes specific to behavioral health.
• Automated Dispensing Cabinet (ADC) Optimization: Serve as the pharmacy lead for behavioral health site automated dispensing cabinet optimization, including medication inventory management, formulary optimization, override monitoring, controlled substance management, medication security, workflow development, and collaboration with the pharmacy enterprise team.
• Controlled Substance Stewardship: Monitor controlled substance utilization, diversion prevention strategies, discrepancy resolution, override trends, medication waste practices, and compliance with controlled substance regulations. Collaborate with Medication Safety, Compliance, Security, and Nursing leadership on diversion prevention and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Behavioral Health Formulary Management: Participate in formulary management activities by assisting in the evaluation of new medications, treatment guidelines, standardizing medication inventories, therapeutic interchange initiatives, and optimizing medication availability based upon patient population needs and enterprise formulary standards.
• Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Collaborate with psychiatrists, addiction medicine physicians, hospitalists, advanced practice providers, nursing, social work, case management, pharmacy leadership, and operational teams to optimize medication management, improve patient outcomes, and enhance continuity of care across the behavioral health continuum.
• Quality Improvement and Operational Leadership: Lead and participate in quality improvement initiatives focused on medication safety, regulatory readiness, medication-use evaluations (MUEs), workflow optimization, operational efficiency, performance metrics, and standardization of behavioral health pharmacy services.
• Education and Professional Development: Provide ongoing education and training to pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, nurses, physicians, residents, students, and other healthcare professionals regarding behavioral health pharmacotherapy, medication safety, controlled substances, regulatory requirements, and evidence-based treatment guidelines.
• Policy, Procedure, and Program Development: Develop, implement, and maintain behavioral health pharmacy policies, standard operating procedures, clinical guidelines, and medication-use workflows to support safe, standardized, and compliant pharmacy operations within the Brighton Center for Recovery and the Henry Ford Pharmacy Enterprise.

This posting represents the major duties, responsibilities, and authorities of this job, and is not intended to be a complete list of all tasks and duties. It should be understood, therefore, that employees may be asked to perform job-related duties beyond those explicitly described above.

Qualifications

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE REQUIRED:

• Must hold a degree from an accredited college of pharmacy and must complete a residency training program or have equivalent experience in hospital pharmacy practice.
• Minimum of two (2) years of pharmacist experience in behavioral health, psychiatry, addiction medicine, or health-system pharmacy preferred.
• PGY2 Psychiatric Pharmacy Residency or demonstrated experience in psychiatric pharmacy and/or substance use disorder treatment preferred.
• Minimum of 3-5 years of pharmacist experience or the equivalent training and experience at another institution, preferred.
• Must have demonstrated the ability to meet and exceed practice standards set for a Level II pharmacist. (Henry Ford Detroit Hospital Only)
• Must be able to serve as an institutional authority in a given specialty practice area.
• Must have demonstrable leadership abilities and exhibit teamwork when working with others.
• Must have excellent verbal and written communication skills which enable him/her to contribute effectively in the dissemination of information to all levels of health care personnel in the institution. Should have a proven research/publication record.
• Must be qualified to work with pharmacy students at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

• Must have a previous work history of reliability, dependability, and willingness to assume additional responsibilities. 

CERTIFICATIONS/LICENSURES REQUIRED:  

• Must be licensed or eligible for licensure in the State of Michigan. If eligible, licensure must be obtained within 30 days of hire; failure to obtain licensure will result in termination of the Pharmacy Specialist position.