Clinical Pharmacist

Responsibilities

• Provides appropriate selection of drug therapy based upon the pharmaceutical principles of pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics, monitoring for efficacy, side effects and clinical outcome, and advises prescribers as appropriate.
• Provides patient-specific therapeutic drug monitoring and communicates relevant findings and/or recommendations to other health care providers in charge of the patient both orally and in writing.
• Maintains continuity of care by performing continuous evaluation of prescribed medications to assure optimal drug therapy.
• Provides medication counseling to patients.
• Completes health and medication histories including patient interviews.
• Serves as a drug information resource by providing up-to-date drug information to prescribers, other health care professionals, patients, and caregivers.
• May participate in patient care rounds, reviews charts, evaluates pertinent laboratory data, drug-drug and drug-nutrient interactions, monitors for adverse drug effects, and screens for allergies.
• 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.
• Affirms drug safety and efficacy, including evaluation of physical symptoms.
• Reports adverse drug events (ADE), near misses, and medication errors in alignment with VA ADERS reporting program.
• Participates in the medical center medication utilization evaluation (MUE) program.
• Recommends formulary alternatives and completes Prior Authorization Drug Review (PADR) consults as assigned.
• Documents recommendations and interventions.
• Assists in medical emergencies including code teams (if ACLS certified) and emergency preparedness activities.
• Provides pharmacokinetic consultation in accordance with local policy.
• Implements Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P&T) Committee policies including therapeutic interchanges and automatic substitutions to include appropriate patient and provider education.
• Manages recalls and medication shortage situations by substituting alternate dosage strengths and instructions of the same medication to equal the prescribed dose and schedule.
• Enters supply orders appropriate for patient care per facility policy.
• Manages various actions, as appropriate, for medication orders to include flagging prescriptions, managing view alerts, using the "hold medication" function, and generating unsigned discontinued orders using Service Reject.
• Extends refills until next scheduled appointment under the provider's name per facility policy.
• Serves as a role model and preceptor to pharmacy students, interns, and residents.
• Assumes an active role in staff development of peers and provides educational in-services to nursing, medical staff, or to other ancillary services.
• Responsible for maintaining professional competency by keeping abreast of current medical and pharmaceutical literature, new drugs and therapies, and applies this knowledge in daily duties.
• Participates in Performance Improvement (PI) Measurements / activities (Mock Surveys, Tracers).
• Participates in Trail Audits for controlled substances, reports discrepancies to appropriate managers, and follows up on the resolution of discrepancies.

Qualifications

• 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.
• Licensure: 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.
• Knowledge of professional pharmacy practice, communication skills, laws, regulations, and accreditation standards related to the distribution and control of scheduled and non-scheduled drugs and pharmacy security.
• Skills in monitoring and assessing the outcome of drug therapies, including physical assessment and interpretation of laboratory and other diagnostic parameters.