Pharmacy Specialist - Ambulatory Care

Type of Position: Clinical Staff - Medical Ancillary Support
Work Shift: Day Shift

About the role

The Clinical Pharmacy Specialist (CPS) for Ambulatory Care provides comprehensive pharmacotherapy support in the ambulatory care setting, serving as a consultative resource to providers on evidence-based therapeutic alternatives, medication optimization, and drug information. The Ambulatory CPS collaborates daily with the interdisciplinary care team to deliver high-quality, patient-centered care across a broad ambulatory population, including direct patient care services provided under approved collaborative practice agreements. The Ambulatory CPS is expected to obtain credentialing as a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist through the UAMS Medical Board Credentialing Committee within six months of employment.

Responsibilities

• Leads assigned patient service lines, clinical areas, and therapeutic programs
• Facilitates pharmaceutical care services, direct patient care programs, and medication utilization systems within assigned services and care areas to assure drug utilization activities are aligned with patient care needs, evidence-based best practices, and regulatory standards
• Designs and implements stewardship activities and restriction/surveillance programs
• Tracks and evaluates assigned pharmacy programs for operational, quality, and financial efficiency and routinely benchmarks against local and national best practices
• Actively identifies practice-related issues that require evaluation and facilitates clinical research projects, quality improvement initiatives, or healthcare provider education as needed to advance practice
• Assures pharmacy is an integral part of the health-care delivery system and facilitates enhancement and expansion of pharmacy services/programs
• Delivers direct patient care and clinical practice, including decentralized and service-based programs
• Maintains proficiency in decentralized pharmacy services and clinical pharmacy programs
• Works as an active member of a multidisciplinary team and collaborates with healthcare providers within decentralized patient care areas to provide patient-centered care
• Identifies high-risk patients and implements interventions to improve quality and safety
• Makes appropriate evidence-based, patient-centered medication recommendations
• Participates in the management of medical emergencies
• Provides discharge medication review, reconciliation, and counseling as appropriate
• Provides pharmaceutical services throughout the medical center
• Maintains proficiency in hospital computer systems and medication ordering systems
• Provides accurate, safe, timely, and appropriate medication therapy based on patient age and needs
• Completes critical patient monitoring and reviews patient profile/chart to identify, prevent, or mitigate drug-related problems, improper drug or dose selection, sub-therapeutic dosage, overdosage, adverse drug reactions, drug interactions, failure to receive drugs, untreated indications, medication use without an indication, and treatment failures
• Communicates effectively and appropriately with healthcare providers and caregivers (physicians, nurses, etc.) and assures continuity of pharmaceutical care between shifts and among staff
• Actively participates in stewardship activities and restricted medication programs
• Participates in pharmacy operations and medication dispensing
• Maintains proficiency in and actively engages in operational programs, central dispensing pharmacies, satellite dispensing pharmacies, and specialty pharmacy areas as appropriate for job assignment
• Facilitates specialty medication procurement, ordering, and dispensing procedures including but not limited to chemotherapy, parenteral nutrition, controlled substances, etc. as appropriate for assignment
• Facilitates experiential education and practice advancement
• Maintains proficiency in preceptor roles and actively emulates education/mentorship skills
• Develops student, resident, and staff training experiences/competencies and creates new relationships for teaching and training opportunities
• Identifies, designs, and implements improvements in the medication-use system to advance patient safety, maximize therapeutic outcomes, or control costs
• Upon request, participates in department, hospital, and campus committees and helps develop and implement Clinical Pharmacy Services in assigned areas
• Other duties as assigned

Requirements

• Graduate of an ACPE-accredited College of Pharmacy with a Doctor of Pharmacy or BS Pharmacy Degree
• PGY1 residency training OR 3 years of applicable experience
• Arkansas Pharmacist license or eligible for Arkansas licensure

Qualifications

Preferred Qualifications:

• Completion of an ASHP-accredited PGY2 residency in Ambulatory Care or 5 years of experience working as a clinical pharmacy specialist in an Ambulatory Care setting
• Board of Pharmacy Specialties Certification preferred and required within 3 years of hiring

Benefits

UAMS offers the following benefits and perks for benefits-eligible positions:

• Health: Medical, Dental and Vision plans available for qualifying staff and family
• Holiday, Vacation and Sick Leave
• Education discount for staff and dependents (undergraduate only)
• Retirement: Up to 10% matched contribution from UAMS
• Basic Life Insurance up to $50,000
• Career Training and Educational Opportunities
• Merchant Discounts
• Concierge prescription delivery on the main campus when using UAMS pharmacy

Physical Activity

• Frequent: Feeling, Hearing, Manipulate items with fingers (including keyboarding), Sitting, Standing, Talking, Walking
• Occasional: Crawling, Crouching, Driving, Kneeling, Lifting, Pulling, Pushing, Reaching, Stooping

Pre-employment Screening Requirements: Annual TB Screening, Criminal Background Check, Sex Offender Registry, Substance Abuse Testing