Pharmacy Technician - Informatics and Medication Safety

Summary

The Pharmacy Technician - Informatics and Medication Safety role serves as a subject matter expert in pharmacy automation and informatics by managing and coordinating multiple automation systems, developing workflows and staff training, and supporting the Medication Safety Officer through data collection, event reporting, safety surveillance, quality improvement, education, staff guidance on safety processes, and administrative support to the Medication Safety Subcommittee.

Duties

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF ASSIGNED DUTIES: Automation and Informatics Serves as a subject matter expert and key resource in the technical areas of pharmacy automation and informatics. Organizes, coordinates, and manages the technical aspects of multiple pharmacy automation systems under the supervision of informatics pharmacists. Develops workflows and related training and orientation of pharmacy staff. Medication Safety Assists the Medication Safety Officer with data collection, event reporting, medication safety surveillance, quality improvement activities, and educational support. Serves as a resource for staff on medication safety processes and reporting procedures. Provides administrative support to the Medication Safety Subcommittee. Performs other duties as assigned, including but not limited to those of a GS-07 or GS-08 Pharmacy Technician in the inpatient and outpatient pharmacies. Occasional travel within the healthcare system may be required. FUNCTIONS OR SCOPE OF ASSIGNED DUTIES: Automation and Informatics Manages the technical aspects of multiple pharmacy automation systems under the supervision of informatics pharmacists. Coordinates hardware and software across ICVAHCS and Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) to ensure timely, safe, efficacious, and cost-effective services. Ensures maximum system availability. Resolves system issues or escalates appropriately. Notifies affected staff and pharmacy leadership of system outages. Proactively communicates planned outages and contingency plans. Provides front-line technical support. Serves as liaison to Office of Information and Technology (OIT), Healthcare Technology Management (HTM, "BioMed"), and vendors. Submits and monitors service tickets. Coordinates installations and support. Participates in system testing. Develops, maintains, and provides pharmacy system orientation and training. Contributes to standardized and vetted orientation and training plans for all new pharmacy employees. Develops and runs reports as needed. Responds to operational information requests before applicable deadlines. Establishes and maintains record keeping systems. Medication Safety Assists in the collection, entry, and tracking of medication-related safety events, including adverse drug events (ADEs), medication errors, and near misses, using designated reporting platforms such as JPSR and VA Adverse Drug Event Reporting System (ADERS). Conduct preliminary review of event reports for completeness and accuracy prior to pharmacist or Medication Safety Officer review. Supports pharmacists in monitoring facility compliance with VHA, FDA, DEA, OIG, and Joint Commission medication safety standards by gathering and organizing compliance data. Runs and compiles standard reports from safety databases as directed, distributing them to designated staff for analysis. Assists in the preparation of de-identified summaries of medication event data for pharmacy management and interdisciplinary sharing. Maintains up-to-date records of ISMP alerts and communicates related notifications to pharmacy staff as instructed. Supports the department's residency program through participation in informatics and medication safety rotation activities. Performs specialized automation, informatics, and medication safety duties at least 25% of the time. Performs other professional or administrative tasks as assigned by the Pharmacy Informatics Supervisor, Medication Safety Officer, or Chief of Pharmacy Service. Work Schedule: Full-Time, Monday through Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not authorized Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience. Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child. Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66. Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Telework: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized

Qualifications

All requirements must be met at the time of the announcement closing. 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 or Experience. None required. For all grade levels and positions that accept both education and experience to qualify, equivalent combinations of qualifying education and experience that total at least 100% are qualifying. The combined percentage is determined by adding total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level to the education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level. Certification. For positions above the full performance level, the employee must pass a national certification exam and hold an active national certification through either: Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB), Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT). OR National Healthcareer Association (NHA), Certified Pharmacy Technician (ExCPT). Grandfathering Provision. Pharmacy technicians employed in VHA 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 in this standard but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply: Employees 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 journeyman level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions. Employees in an occupation that requires a licensure/certification/ registration only at higher grade levels must meet the licensure/ certification/registration requirement before they can be promoted to those higher grade levels. 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 who are converted to title 38 hybrid status under this provision and subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of re-entry to the occupation. Employees initially grandfathered into