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Summary As a member of the outpatient anticoagulation clinic team, services as a mid-level provider to initiate, modify, or discontinue medication therapy, and as a consultant for medication therapy management services under the confines of their scope of practice. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this occupational series. For more information, refer to Required Documents below. Responsibilities VA Careers - Pharmacy: https://youtube.com/embed/Fn\_ickNBEws Duties include but are not limited to: Function as a mid-level provider to design, implement, and monitor therapeutic drug plans to achieve definite outcomes through direct interactions with patients and providers in assigned areas. Interview and/or evaluate patients during clinic for appropriateness of pharmacological therapy and makes a pharmaceutical care plan for each patient. Provide drug information, observation on patient response to therapy, and appropriate recommendations regarding treatment alternatives or additional interventions to maximize patient outcomes, taking into consideration, choice of therapy, safety, efficacy, and formulary issues. Perform and document medication reconciliations on outpatient anticoagulation patients, with a focus on patient's medication history regarding anticoagulant use, and other medications that may influence or have the potential to interact with the prescribed medication regimen. Queries outside records as necessary and documents findings. Provide real time drug information, medication/dispensing histories, dosing, toxicity, drug-drug interactions, etc., to assist providers in making clinical decisions. Review patient medication regimens for clinical effectiveness, drug selection, dosing, contraindications, side effects, potential drug interactions, and therapeutic outcomes as required. Communicate findings with prescribers and provides appropriate alternatives to current treatment plans as needed and assist with identifying patients who are candidates for anticoagulant therapy. Order, perform, review, and analyze appropriate laboratory tests, pharmacokinetic, pharmacodynamic data, and other diagnostic studies necessary to monitor and support the patient's drug therapy. Follows-up with patients on lab or test results to discuss the plan of therapy including changes in medication therapy, referral to primary care or specialty provider. Provide education to providers and staff regarding various anticoagulation topics. Review and evaluate requests for non-formulary and restricted drugs for appropriateness and compliance with established criteria. This includes supporting effective drug usage criteria approved by the national VHA PBM, VISN PBM, and local Pharmacy & Therapeutic (P&T) Committee to ensure quality patient care in a cost effective manner. Ensure appropriate utilization of the VHA formulary by health care providers. Provide education and training to all health care providers including physicians, nurses, and pharmacists and all others, with the prescribing, administering and dispensing of medications to patients. Provide education to patients for the purpose of fostering compliance with medication regimens. Identify areas of concern and correct those potential problem areas using appropriate educational techniques. Assist the Clinical Pharmacy Manager in development and implementation of programs which assure and enhance patient care. Supervise and train pharmacy residents, graduate and undergraduate students as assigned. Assist in the development and implementation of proposals or programs for improved and/or new clinical pharmacy services. Participate in the appropriate, effective and safe use of pharmaceuticals by contributing to criteria development, protocol development, guideline development, drug use evaluations, data collection and other quality improvement activities as assigned. Serve on medical center and/or VISN committees as requested. Work Schedule: 7:30 am - 4:00 pm or 8:00 am - 4:30 pm; subject to change based on the needs of the service Telework: Ad-Hoc (occasional, episodic, or short-term) may be authorized as determined by agency policy. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 94131-0 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job. All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959. Must be proficient in written and spoken English. Subject to background/security investigation. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. Must pass pre-employment physical examination. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Qualifications 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. English Language Proficiency. Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d). Education: 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 website 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.); OR, Graduate of foreign pharmacy degree programs meet the educational requirement if the 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, unrestricted, and unexpired 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 a requirement for maintaining full, current, and unrestricted licensure. A pharmacist who has or has eve had, any license(s) revoked, suspended, denied, restricted, limited, or issued/placed in a probationary status may be appointed only IAW the provisions in VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, section B, paragraph 16. Note: 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. Creditable Experience (1) Knowledge of Professional Pharmacy Practices. To be creditable, the experience must have demonstrated the use of knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with professional pharmacy practice. Professional practice means paid/non-paid employment as a professional or unlicensed graduate pharmacist as defined by the appropriate licensing board. (2) Residency and Fellowship Training. Residency and fellowship training programs in a specialized area of clinical pharmacy practice may be substituted for creditable experience on a year-for- year basis. The pharmacy residency program must be accredited by the American Society of Health- System Pharmacists (ASHP). A fellowship program that is not accredited by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) will need to have comparable standards for experience to be creditable (Professional Standards Board refers to the Deputy Chief Consultant for Professional Practice for the determination). (3) Quality of Experience. Qualifying experience must be at a level comparable to pharmacy experience at the next lower level. Experience as a Graduate Pharmacist is creditable provided the candidate was used as a professional pharmacist (under supervision) and subsequently passed the appropriate licensure examination.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: In addition to the GS-12 requirements, must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level, GS-12. An example of one year of experience at the GS-12 level would be working as a Clinical Pharmacist reviewing, interpreting, and verifying medication orders for appropriateness; processing and filling medication orders; interacting with and making recommendations to other clinical staff regarding medication therapy ordered to ensure safe and effective care; reviewing the patient's medications, allergies, labs, and other pertinent information from the medical record to identify and solve medication-related problems; contacting providers as appropriate; documenting recommendations and interventions; providing refill extensions and partial medication supplies; taking health and medication histories; performing medication reconciliation; providing drug information; assisting in formulary management including therapeutic substitutions, nonformulary reviews and medication usage evaluations; documenting and assessing adverse drug events (ADEs); assisting in medical emergencies; providing oversight of technical staff in all aspects of medication distribution. Clinical Pharmacy Specialist. 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. Pharmacists assigned to this position 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: ASHP accredited PGY1 residency or equivalent experience Pharmacotherapy Specialty Certification (BCPS) or Certified Anticoagulation Care Provider (CACP) or equivalent outpatient anticoagulation management experience Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-13. Physical Requirements: May be subjective to the following: moderate lifting of 15-44 pounds; moderate carrying of 15-44 pounds reaching above shoulders; use of fingers; walking not to exceed eight hours; standing not to exceed eight hours; near vision correctable at 13' to 16' to Jaeger 1 to 4; far vision correctable in one eye to 20/50 to 20/100 in the other; ability to distinguish basic colors; ability to distinguish shades of colors; and hearing aids are permitted. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019. Education If you are basing your qualifications on education (or a combination of education and experience) or if the position requires a college education to qualify, you must submit a copy of your transcripts with your application. Your official or unofficial transcript must reflect: name of the college or university, full address of the college or university, your name, class title(s) with the number of credits earned/completed, the degree received, if applicable, and date degree conferred. A copy of your certificate/degree or screenshot of your current classes are not a replacement of your transcript and they will not be used in the qualifying process. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. Additional Information During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status. VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act. VA Healthcare System Serving Ohio, Indiana and Michigan (VISN 10) advocates for a Whole Health System of care in each of the Medical Centers. This is an approach to healthcare that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their lives to the fullest. As an employee operating in a Whole Health System of care, you will operate in a model with three core elements, seeking to create a personalized health plan for each Veteran. This is done in the context of healing relationships and healing environments and a connection back to the Veteran's community. This aligns with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Mission Statement to Honor America's Veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being.