Pharmacist (Clinical Pharmacy Specialist-Pharmacogenomics)

Veterans Health Administration • New Orleans, LA

8d • Onsite

About The Position

The Pharmacist serves as a Clinical Informatics Pharmacist and liaison among Pharmacy Services, local clinical applications coordinators, laboratory and diagnostic stakeholders, informatics personnel, and other Clinical Services. The role provides administrative, technical, and analytical support to pharmacy leadership and committees, collaborates with VA Pharmacy Information Specialists, and gathers and interprets pharmacy and clinical-service data. The position develops, maintains, and evaluates dashboards and reporting tools supporting medication-use oversight, operational monitoring, patient safety, formulary management, service improvement, and pharmacogenomics-related precision medication management.

As staffing needs dictate, the incumbent may also perform the functions of a GS-12 Clinical Pharmacist or GS-13 Clinical Pharmacy Specialist. Clinical work includes developing and maintaining electronic tools such as clinical decision support and pharmacy order menus, improving order sets and templates, and identifying evidence-based medication-management practices. The incumbent also trains pharmacy and healthcare staff on automation and clinical information systems and maintains competence in VistA/CPRS, database management, and clinical software applications.

The role is based in an office/clinic setting and may involve several simultaneous tasks in stressful situations. The work schedule is rotating and may include nights, days, weekends, and holidays. Telework is available based on facility needs; this is not a virtual position.

Requirements

• Graduate of an ACPE-accredited College or School of Pharmacy with a BS in Pharmacy and/or a Pharm.D.; foreign pharmacy graduates must provide FPGEC Certification, including the FPGEE and TOEFL iBT, to meet the education requirement.
• Full, current, and unrestricted pharmacist license in a U.S. State, Territory, Commonwealth, or the District of Columbia; maintain current registration if required for licensure.
• For the GS-13 grade, at least one year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-12).
• For GS-13 Clinical Pharmacy Specialist duties, ability to communicate orally and in writing to influence clinical and management decisions; expert understanding of applicable regulatory and quality standards; ability to solve problems and coordinate and organize responsibilities; expert knowledge of a specialized clinical pharmacy or specialty area; and advanced ability to monitor and assess drug therapy outcomes, including physical assessment and interpretation of laboratory and diagnostic parameters.
• Proficiency in written and spoken English.
• Must be a U.S. citizen, except that non-citizens may be appointed when recruiting qualified citizens is not possible under VA policy.
• Must meet VA pre-employment conditions, including applicable drug screening, background/security investigation, physical evaluation, onboarding, and seasonal influenza vaccination requirements.
• Must serve a one- or two-year trial period, as applicable.

Nice To Haves

• Completion of a PGY1 and/or PGY2 residency.
• Demonstrated expertise in VA clinical systems (VistA/CPRS).
• Experience developing clinical decision support.
• Data analytics experience using SQL.
• Leadership in informatics or health technology modernization initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Provide administrative, technical, and analytical support to the Chief of Pharmacy, Associate Chiefs of Pharmacy, Pharmacy ADPAC, Pharmacoeconomist, and facility committees; provide VISN committee support as assigned.
• Collaborate with VA Pharmacy Information Specialists on activities that improve patient care through information systems management and automation.
• Gather and interpret data on pharmacy and other clinical services, including workload, drug costs, cost per unique patient, cost-savings initiatives, SAIL data, and efficiency measures.
• Develop, maintain, and evaluate dashboards and reporting tools for medication-use oversight, operational monitoring, patient safety, formulary management, and service performance improvement.
• Gather, analyze, interpret, and present pharmacogenomics data, including test utilization, turnaround time, actionable results, medication-gene pairs, pharmacist interventions, provider adoption, operational trends, and outcomes.
• Perform GS-12 Clinical Pharmacist or GS-13 Clinical Pharmacy Specialist functions as assigned when staffing dictates.
• Work with VISN Pharmacy Information Specialists, Academic Detailing, Pharmacy ADPAC, and Pharmacy Administration to develop and maintain clinical decision support and pharmacy order menus or order sets.
• Prepare formats, documentation, flowcharts, diagrams, and other materials needed to support Pharmacy goals and objectives, and educate front-line providers on developed tools.
• Work with Clinical Application Coordinators to streamline quick orders, order sets, and templates to facilitate appropriate medication prescribing and processing as directed by VISN, local P&T Committee, and ECMS.
• Research and identify evidence-based best practices for medication-management ordering algorithms.
• Train pharmacy and other healthcare staff on automation and information systems related to CPRS, BCMA, Pharmacy Drug File, and other clinical software applications.
• Maintain knowledge of healthcare and Pharmacy Service reporting systems and their operations to assist with monitoring and managing clinical pharmacy operations.
• Maintain competence in VistA/CPRS and database management, understand technical requirements and integration issues for clinical software applications, and recognize system or program failures and devise recovery plans.

Benefits

• Education Debt Reduction Program student loan reimbursement, subject to individual eligibility and program approval; award amount may be up to $200,000 and eligibility period may be one to five years.
• Competitive salary and regular salary increases.
• 37–50 days of annual paid time off per year, comprising 13–26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, and 11 paid federal holidays.
• Potential credit toward annual leave accrual based on prior work or military service, subject to request and approval.
• Up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave after 12 months of employment in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster-care placement of a child.
• Child-care subsidy may be available to eligible full-time employees after 60 days of employment, subject to family income and other program limits.
• Traditional federal pension with five-year vesting and federal 401(k), with up to 5% in contributions by VA.
• Federal health, vision, dental, term life, and long-term care insurance; many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior