Pharmacist - Clinical Specialist Home Based Primary Care

Clarification from the agency

NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below. This position is only open to Sheridan VAHCS Employees only.

Major duties and responsibilities of the position.

1. Clinical services and Education: The HBPC CPS has full responsibility to develop, organize, and manage patients diagnosed with primary care managed conditions and to coordinate further diagnostic assessment through appropriate professionals when there is question regarding the treatment diagnosis. The CPS functions at the highest level of clinical practice, works independently under their individual scope of practice to directly care for patients. They will have full responsibility to develop specialty referral-based services pharmaceutical care interventions, and to establish rapport to serve as leaders on the HBPC team. HBPC CPS will serve as Sheridan VAHCS pharmacy representative providing consultation and support or HBPC interdisciplinary team and serves as a pharmacist with advanced scope of practice. Completes or upon request. The HBPC CPS will provide services as determined by the approved scope of practice.
2. At the GS 13 level, the following activities are performed:
   1. Clinical Pharmacy Services:
      1. Directly involved in the design, implementation, and monitoring of therapeutic drug plans to achieve definite outcomes through direct interactions with patients and providers in assigned areas in Home
      2. Maintains an active scope of practice, serving as pharmacist with advanced scope of practice within the primary care through provision of patient care during new patient and follow up visits for chronic disease states.
      3. Has expertise in the principles of clinical pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics and is knowledgeable and able to make dose adjustment recommendations based on objective laboratory findings.
      4. Reviews patient medication regimens for clinical effectiveness, drug selection, dosing, contraindications, side effects, potential drug interactions, and therapeutic outcomes as required.
      5. Communicates findings with prescribers and providers appropriate alternative so current treatment plans as needed.
      6. Document and ensure completion of clinical interventions, encounters, alerts and consults in CPRS in a timely and professional manner as appropriate.
      7. Obtains medication histories from patients and summarizes significant findings in the medical record and/or to the provider as appropriate and is accountable for medication reconciliation according to facility policies.
3. Education/Teaching/Training:
   1. Directly involved in the training or support of pharmacy students, pharmacy residents, medical students, psychology interns, fellows and other graduate or post-graduate trainees as appropriate. Assists in training of new employees in duties and responsibilities of Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner.
   2. Responsible for the self-development, mandatory training, and education necessary to maintain licensure, stay current with the practice of pharmacy and Joint Commission and SAIL metrics and meet facility training requirements.
   3. Provides leadership, guidance, and consultation to staff through the medication center and associated Community Based Outpatient Clinics as appropriate. HBPC CPSs ensure they maintain current knowledge of therapeutics, psychopharmacology, and disease state management for primary care disease states.
4. Outpatient Pharmacy Support:
   1. Counsel's patients appropriately regarding their medication and documents this in the notes section of CPRS. Utilize pharmacy information systems to answer patient and facility staff questions related to status of their medication, completion date, package tracking, etc.
   2. Serves as an authority on drug usage, interactions, over-dosages, and compliance to medication staff, nursing staff, technicians, and students. Uses appropriate references to research drug information and provides timely and accurate responses to drug information inquiries from all customers.
5. Program Evaluation:
   1. Assists in quality improvement and research initiative and adds to the body of knowledge by participating in medical center and service process assessment and action teams and continually seeks to improve services.
6. Other Responsibilities:
   1. Serves on Medical Center or Healthcare System, VISN, or National VA committees or task forces as appointed or assigned by the immediate supervisor or Pharmacy Chief. Responsibilities will include representing Pharmacy on decision-making committees at the Medical Center or Healthcare System, actively participating in leadership roles on local, state, and national professional organizations, and representing the Medical Center or healthcare System at professional/program community group/events and committees.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:30am-4:00pm
Compressed/Flexible:Available
Telework: No
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 58180-A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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 (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). 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.
• 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:

• United States Citizenship: (Noncitizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g, this part.)
• Education:
  • 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. Verification of approved degree programs may be obtained from the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education, 20 North Clark Street, Suite 2500, Chicago, Illinois 60602-5109; phone: (312) 664-3575, or through their Web site at: http://www.acpe-accredit.org/. (NOTE: Prior to 2005 ACPE accredited both baccalaureate and Doctor of Pharmacy terminal degree program. Today the sole degree is Doctor of Pharmacy.)
  • Graduates of foreign pharmacy degree programs meet the educational requirement if the graduate is able to provide proof of achieving the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Examination Commission (FPGEC) Certification, which includes passing the Foreign Pharmacy Graduate Equivalency Examination (FPGEE) and the Test of English as a Foreign Language Internet Based Test (TOEFL iBT).
  • NOTE: Individuals who have or have had multiple licenses and had any such license revoked for professional misconduct, professional incompetence or substandard care, or who surrendered such license after receiving written notice of potential termination of such license by the State for professional misconduct, professional incompetence, or substandard care, are not eligible for appointment to the position unless such revoked or surrendered license is fully restored (38 U.S.C. § 7402(f)).

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).

Grade Determinations:

GS-13

• Experience. In addition to the GS-12 requirements, must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level.
• Clinical Pharmacy Specialist. The clinical pharmacy specialist (CPS) functions at the highest level of clinical practice, works independently under their scope of practice as defined by the individual medical center to directly care for patients. A CPS plays a defined role in budgetary execution and serves as a mid-level provider who functions to initiate, modify or discontinue medication therapy and as a consultant for intensive medication therapy management services. This includes, but is not limited to, the following: designing, implementing, assessing, monitoring and documenting therapeutic plans utilizing the most effective, least toxic and most economical medication treatments; helping achieve positive patient centric outcomes through direct and indirect interactions with patients, providers, and interdisciplinary teams in assigned areas; performing physical assessments; and ordering laboratory and other tests to help determine efficacy and toxicity of medication therapy.
• Pharmacists assigned to this position must demonstrate the following KSAs:
  • Ability to communicate orally and in writing to persuade and influence clinical and management decisions.
  • Expert understanding of regulatory and quality standards for their program area.
  • Ability to solve problems, coordinate and organize responsibilities to maximize outcomes in their program area or area of clinical expertise.
  • Expert knowledge of a specialized area of clinical pharmacy practice or specialty area of pharmacy.
  • Advanced skill in monitoring and assessing the outcome of drug therapies, including physical assessment and interpretation of laboratory and other diagnostic parameters.

Preferred Experience: At least 3 years of Home Based Primary Care experience.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-13.

Physical Requirements: This position provides services to patients and their families. Incumbents must be physically and mentally able to efficiently perform the essential functions of the position without hazard to themselves or others. Normal work of the position requires visual acuity (with the ability to read typewritten characters without strain, corrective lenses permitted), keen hearing, clear distinctive speech, manual dexterity. This position may require reaching above shoulder-level height and requires potentially moderate levels of living and carrying (15 44 pounds). This position requires long periods of sitting, standing, and walking. The incumbent must be a mature, flexible, sensible individual capable of working effectively in stressful situations, able to shift priorities on patient needs.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

• Professional Certification
• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

Special Note for Applications: To complete your application, please use the following link https://vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Resume.docx to download the standard Clinical Resume Document. This one-page document does not need to be modified and must be uploaded into the two-page restricted 'Resume' document upload field.

Your full resume/CV may be uploaded without page limitation into the 'Other' document upload field.

The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please ensure you have included all documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), etc.

• Cover Letter
• Resume
• Other (2)
• Professional Certification
• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

Veterans' Preference: When applying for Federal Jobs, eligible Veterans should claim preference for 5pt (TP), 10pt (CP/CPS/XP), or for Sole Survivor Preference (SSP) in the questionnaire. You must provide a legible copy of your DD214(s) which shows dates and character of service (honorable, general, etc.). If you are currently serving on active duty and expect to be released or discharged within 120 days you must submit documentation related to your active duty service which reflects the dates of service, character of service (honorable, general, etc.), and dates of impending separation. Additionally, disabled veterans and others eligible for 10-point preference (such as widows or mothers of eligible Veterans) must also submit an SF-15 "Application for 10 Point Veteran Preference" with required proof as stated on the form. Documentation is required to award preference. For more information on Veterans' Preference, please visit Feds Hire Vets - Veterans - Job Seekers - Veterans' Preference.

Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees.

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