The Phoenix VA Health Care System is seeking a dynamic Clinical Pharmacist Specialist to join our Health Informatics team. The Clinical Pharmacist Specialist (Informatics) performs analytical and evaluative work related to direct and indirect patient care services, including data-driven decision-making and healthcare operations. 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: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Education (1) 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.) (2) Graduates of foreign pharmacy degree programs meet the educational requirement if the 1 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). 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. The pharmacist must maintain current registration if this is a requirement for maintaining full, current, and unrestricted licensure. A pharmacist who has, or has ever had, any license(s) revoked, suspended, denied, restricted, limited, or issued/placed in a probationary status may be appointed only in accordance with the provisions in VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, section B, paragraph 16. Failure to Obtain License: In all cases, pharmacists must actively pursue meeting state prerequisites for licensure starting from the date of their appointment. At the time of appointment, the supervisor will provide the unlicensed pharmacist with the written requirement to obtain licensure, the date by which the license must be acquired, and the consequences for not becoming licensed by the deadline. Failure to become licensed within 2 years from date of appointment will result in removal from the GS-0660 Pharmacist series and may result in termination of employment. Grandfathering Provision: All licensed pharmacists employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series and grade held, including positive education and licensure/certification/registration that are part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements required in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply: 2 (1) Employees grandfathered into the GS-660 occupational series may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level, or changed to lower grade within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the journey level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions. (2) Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis, until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard. Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/certification/registration, that meet all the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation. (3) If a licensed pharmacist who was retained under this provision leaves the occupation, the employee loses protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation. 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 Specialized Experience: Applicants must have at least 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-12). For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity (difficulty) and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. 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. In addition to the experience above, the candidate 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: Completion of PGYl and/or PGY-2 Residency program. In addition, preferred CPS candidates will demonstrate advanced experience in troubleshooting, evaluating, configuring, utilizing and training with health information systems/technologies and associated clinical software (VistA,CPRS); Experience using programming languages such as SQL and data-related tools to extract, transform, load, analyze, and visualize data to support clinical decision-making and healthcare operational needs; extensive leadership (e.g., team lead, project lead, management) experience in informatics; experience utilizing data visualization software (Power Bl, Pyramid Analytics); experience contributing to health technology innovation and system modernization initiatives; Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary and is usually accomplished while the incumbent is comfortably seated at a desk or table. Some walking and standing may occur during a workday in connection with attendance at meetings and conferences, or while researching assignments. Items carried typically are light objects such as, briefcases, notebooks, and reports. Lifting of moderately heavy objects is not normally required. ["Clinical Pharmacist Specialist (Informatics) operates within a multidisciplinary informatics team, offering specialized support in the design, execution, and ongoing optimization of clinical data analysis to drive improvements in care delivery and operational strategies. Duties of this position include but are not limited to: Uses SQL (and other programming languages) and data-related tools to extract, transform, load, analyze, and visualize data to support clinical decision-making and healthcare operational needs. Supports data mining and advanced analytics, including trend analysis and forecasting, to enhance clinical decision-making and operational strategies. Leverages clinical pharmacy knowledge to develop, implement, and optimize clinical decision support tools such as order sets, clinical reminders, and drug therapy alerts. Collaborates with multidisciplinary teams to ensure that informatics solutions align with best clinical practices. Applies clinical pharmacy skills to support the integration of informatics tools with clinical workflows. This includes assessing the impact of new informatics technologies on medication management processes and recommending improvements that enhance both patient safety and clinical efficacy. Incorporates new data tools and systems, including predictive modeling, Al tools, Tableau, Pyramid Analytics, Power Bl, and other emerging technologies. Utilizes clinical knowledge to guide the interpretation of data analytics in a way that enhances pharmacotherapy outcomes. Provides clinical insights when designing reports and dashboards that inform medication use patterns, therapeutic efficacy, and patient safety initiatives. Conducts quality control procedures, implements check systems, and evaluates results to apply corrective actions and avoid adverse outcomes. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 07:30am to 4:30pm. Compressed/Flexible: Available. Telework: Available. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized."]
The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is the largest integrated health care system in the United States, providing care at 1,321 health care facilities, including 172 VA Medical Centers and 1,138 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity (VHA outpatient clinics) to over 9 million Veterans enrolled in the VA health care program. VHA Medical Centers provide a wide range of services including traditional hospital-based services such as surgery, critical care, mental health, orthopedics, pharmacy, radiology and physical therapy. In addition, most of our medical centers offer additional medical and surgical specialty services including audiology & speech pathology, dermatology, dental, geriatrics, neurology, oncology, podiatry, prosthetics, urology, and vision care. Some medical centers also offer advanced services such as organ transplants and plastic surgery.
