SHS-MEDICATION SAFETY OFFICER

Sparrow•Lansing, MI

5d•Onsite

About The Position

The Medication Safety Officer provides leadership in developing policies and models that promote medication safety throughout the medication management process. In coordination with designated facility leadership, this role coordinates facility medication-safety activities, including reporting, system and process evaluation, recommendations and initiatives, intervention strategies, and monitoring. The officer identifies and coordinates system-wide medication-safety projects and serves as a liaison to facility pharmacy, nursing, and medical staff leadership. The position analyzes adverse drug event reporting, identifies practices that contribute to medication errors, and facilitates system and process changes to prevent errors and recurrence. It leads project planning and implementation for patient-safety initiatives and supports sustainable performance after implementation. The officer assesses medication-management processes in response to safety bulletins and publications, develops recommendations and implementation and education plans with stakeholders, and provides medication-safety guidance to sites, departments, service lines, and individuals. The role participates in facility root cause analyses, evaluates proposed changes across the system, analyzes adverse drug event data and trends, develops performance measures, and reports findings. It develops education for clinical professionals, updates Patient Safety and Quality committees, and establishes and facilitates a system-wide medication-safety working forum. The officer also mentors pharmacy students as appropriate and helps ensure the safety of medication-related technology, such as computerized physician order entry, pharmacy computer systems, automated dispensing cabinets, and electronic medication administration records. The position trains and assesses pharmacy personnel competency in non-sterile and sterile compounding.

Requirements

Current Michigan licensure if required for the healthcare profession.
Minimum 5 years of progressive administrative leadership experience in pharmacy operations, quality improvement, and/or patient-safety activities in an academic medical center or large, integrated, tertiary healthcare setting.
Clinical PharmD.
Demonstrated experience using data for continuous quality improvement, the IHI Model for Improvement, and common statistical, spreadsheet, and database-management programs.
Strong interpersonal, facilitation, and team-building skills, with the ability to influence across functional lines.
Persuasive oral and written communication skills, demonstrated through presentations and written reports.
Flexibility and adaptability when working with diverse groups and in varied situations.
Ability to use a keyboard as required to perform the essential duties.

Nice To Haves

Training and/or certification in quality and process improvement, such as Medication or Patient Safety Officer, CPHQ, FACHE, Lean, or Six Sigma.

Responsibilities

Analyze facility reporting systems for adverse drug event capture, reporting timeliness, and information usefulness; create a system-wide adverse drug event reporting policy with standardized definitions.
Identify medication-safety best practices and analyze current practices that contribute to medication errors; take proactive prevention steps and facilitate system and process changes.
Manage and facilitate prioritization and implementation of patient-safety initiatives related to systems and processes that support medication safety, including project plans and sustainable post-implementation performance.
Review medication-safety bulletins, alerts, and publications; assess medication-management systems and processes; develop recommendations and implementation and education plans with stakeholders.
Provide medication-safety education, guidance, and assistance to sites, departments, service lines, and individuals.
Participate in facility-based root cause analyses; evaluate proposed system and process changes for medication-safety risks; develop system-wide implementation plans and risk-awareness efforts.
Analyze system-wide adverse drug event data and trends, use expert panels to review events, determine whether corrective action is needed, and develop performance measures and frequent reports.
Develop educational sessions for nurses, pharmacists, physicians, and allied health professionals based on literature, corrective action plans, and committee recommendations.
Participate in Patient Safety and Quality meetings and update committees on medication-safety plan initiatives.
Establish and facilitate a system-wide medication-safety working forum, including meetings, membership, agendas, minutes, follow-up, tracking, and timeliness.
Mentor pharmacy students, as appropriate, in medication-safety promotion and regulatory compliance.
Help ensure ongoing safety of medication-related technology, including computerized physician order entry, pharmacy computer systems, automated dispensing cabinets, and electronic medication administration records.
Train and assess pharmacy personnel competency in non-sterile and sterile compounding.