Clinical Pharmacist

VISN CCC Clinical Pharmacist

The VISN CCC Clinical Pharmacist's primary responsibility is the utilization of evidence-based pharmaceutical care services through direct interactions with patients and providers as well as the safe provision of pharmaceuticals and medication information in a timely manner. This pharmacist promotes and manages drug therapy based on current clinical knowledge and established policies. Responsibilities also include but are not limited to completion of electronic prescription orders, checking of completed prescription orders for accuracy and safety, management of VA and VISN formularies, and assistance in achieving VISN goals related to medication management and patient care.

Major functions of the position are, but not limited to:

• Professionally receives and handles escalated telephone calls from and responds to Veterans, their family members and/or legal representatives regarding a broad range of pharmaceutical topics.
• Monitors provider's orders for appropriateness of therapy and reports drug errors, adverse drug reactions, allergies, incompatibilities, side effects and patient compliance issues and appropriately interacts with the ordering provider or attending as needed.
• Actively reviews patient medication regimens for cost effective drug selection, dosing, contraindications, therapeutic duplication, appropriate route and method of administration, drug interactions, and therapeutic outcomes as required.
• Utilizes patient care information systems such as VistA, CPRS and Cerner to obtain critical patient data elements and to document clinical interventions and other pertinent patient care issues in a timely and professional manner.
• Manages recalls and medication shortage situations by substituting alternate dosage strengths or products per facility policy.
• Enters supply orders appropriate for patient care per VISN CCC policy.
• Manages various actions, as appropriate, for medication orders to include flagging prescriptions, managing view alerts, using the "hold" function, and generating unsigned discontinued orders using the "service reject" function.
• Reviews prescription renewal verification requests and takes appropriate action to extend refills until the next scheduled appointment under the provider's name per VISN CCC policy.
• Obtains medication histories from patients and summarizes significant findings in the medical record and/or to the provider as appropriate.
• Performs medication reconciliation at all transitions of care, including updating the medication profile to reflect an accurate, active list of VA and non-VA medications.
• Applies knowledge of normal laboratory values in the evaluation of patient care and recognizes significant abnormalities.
• Reviews and evaluates requests for non-formulary and restricted drugs for appropriateness and compliance with established criteria where applicable.
• Has a good working knowledge of information resources such as Micromedex, Clinical Pharmacology, Up To Date, Facts & Comparisons, or other relevant pharmaceutical references, both written and electronic.
• Participates in continuous daily improvement, Unit Practice Councils and similar quality improvement initiatives.
• Participates in the training and in-servicing of pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, pharmacy residents, pharmacy students, and other medical center personnel as required.

Work Schedule: Tuesday - Saturday, 11:00am - 7:30pm, PST (may vary based on department need to cover CCC Pharmacy operating hours Mon-Sun 7am -7pm PST) Remote: This is a remote position Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized