Pharmacy Specialist Behavioral Health - Sharp Grossmont Hospital - Variable Shift - Full Time

Sharp HealthCare•La Mesa, CA

About The Position

The Pharmacy Specialist Behavioral Health provides the professional, clinical, and technical expertise required to deliver comprehensive pharmaceutical care in support of the mission, values, and philosophy of Pharmacy Services and Sharp HealthCare. The role supports medication management and clinical pharmacy services for Behavioral Health patients, including medication review, therapeutic monitoring, medication reconciliation, patient education, consult services, and coordination with prescribers and other clinicians. The position also provides operational support in the Behavioral Health Department and Central Pharmacy, contributes to medication-use and quality-improvement programs, helps maintain regulatory compliance and safe medication practices, and supports research and teaching activities related to Behavioral Health medicine. The work schedule is an 8-hour shift from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, with no weekend or on-call requirements.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in pharmacy or Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD).
One year of postdoctoral experience in a hospital pharmacy environment.
Current American Heart Association Basic Life Support for Healthcare Professionals certification.
California Pharmacist License issued by the California State Board of Pharmacy.
Board Certified Psychiatric Pharmacist (BCPP) certification from the Board of Pharmacy Specialties.

Nice To Haves

Completed a PGY-1 Acute Care Residency.
Completed a PGY-2 Psychiatric Care Residency.
Mental Health First Aid Certification.
Computer skills, especially word processing, spreadsheet, and database creation and management.

Responsibilities

Review patient medication profiles and orders for appropriateness, dosing, interactions, allergies, duplications, organ function, and other patient-specific factors.
Identify, resolve, document, and communicate prescribing, formulary, therapeutic, and medication-related issues with prescribers, nurses, and other clinicians.
Provide drug information responses, participate in medication-use evaluations, and contribute to clinical advisory services and data collection.
Participate in required Code Blue emergencies, prepare and label medications, provide medication information, complete applicable billing, and restock medications.
Contribute to cost-saving and cost-avoidance initiatives, including IV-to-oral conversions, formulary adherence, and medication shortage management.
Provide formal clinical consults and patient monitoring services, such as pharmacokinetics, heparin, pain management, and other entity-specific services.
Provide pharmaceutical care to Behavioral Health patients, including reviewing medication orders and monitoring psychotropic medications and targeted or narrow-therapeutic-index agents.
Verify utilization, dosing, dose conversions, scheduling, and administration routes for high-cost agents, including long-acting injectable antipsychotics.
Oversee medication schedules and delivery for the Outpatient Long Acting Injection clinic and document adherence to applicable inpatient free-trial program rules.
Coordinate medication clarifications and changes with psychiatrists or admitting prescribers and facilitate medication information transfer for patients converted to the inpatient registry.
Support medication-use management programs, clinical guidelines, critical pathways, disease management, and drug-use programs.
Resolve drug distribution and Pyxis issues and provide operational support in Behavioral Health and Central Pharmacy as needed.
Promote formulary use, coordinate procurement of necessary non-formulary medications, and monitor expensive medications against approved criteria.
Reconcile home medications and pharmacy and nursing medication records; facilitate admissions, transfers, and discharges; and provide patient-specific medication teaching when appropriate.
Communicate instructions and shift handoffs, support staff orientation and resident/student training, troubleshoot workflow issues, and participate in staff meetings.
Develop or support evidence-based protocols and clinical pathways, medication-use technologies, adverse drug reaction surveillance, accreditation compliance, and hospital committees.
Provide daily work direction and supervision to technical and ancillary staff and support accurate, timely medication preparation and dispensing.
Counsel patients on medication use, ensure controlled-substance accuracy and record integrity, assist with narcotic inventories, and dispense investigational medications according to policy.
Enter and verify medication profile data and use pharmacy automation and technology, including EHR, Pyxis Profile, Dose Edge, repackaging robotics, and physician order entry.
Support inventory and cost management, including reducing waste and expired medication, maintaining appropriate inventory levels, and completing borrow/loan paperwork.
Complete assigned medication storage inspections and documentation, report critical issues, support patient safety goals and medication tracer audits, and help ensure medication security and regulatory compliance.
Support research and teaching in Behavioral Health pharmacy, including resident education, residency program development, clinical research, presentations, publications, and staff development.
Participate in medication safety event monitoring and analysis, perform non-voluntary monitoring, oversee the hospital Clozapine REMS program, assess fall risk for patients receiving antipsychotics, and review restraint reports for medication opportunities.
Maintain awareness of developments in the profession through professional literature and attendance at professional organization meetings, institutes, and seminars.