Summary: The incumbent is the Facility Program Manager for the VISTA Clinical Information system (CIS) and all applications that interface with the Computerized Patient Record System and Clinical Procedures. He/she coordinates the management of these packages with the Chief of Pharmacy, BCMA Manager, Chief Information Officer (CIO), the Chief of Staff and managers/chiefs of the various clinical services at the Western NY VAMC located in Buffalo, NY.
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. Education: 1) 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. 2) Graduates 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 and unrestricted 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 is a requirement for maintaining full, current, and unrestricted licensure. A pharmacist who has, or has ever had, any license(s) revoked, suspended, denied, restricted, limited, or issued/placed in a probationary status may be appointed only in accordance with the provisions in VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, section B, paragraph 16. English Language Proficiency. Pharmacists must be proficient in spoken and written English as required by 38 U.S.C 7402(d), and 7407(d). 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). GS 13 : Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements listed above, candidates must meet the following requirements. Experience. In addition to the GS-13 requirements, you must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level which includes, but are not limited to: reviewing, interpreting, and verifying medication orders for appropriateness; identify and solve medication-related problem; providing oversight of technical staff in all aspects of medication distribution processing and filling medication orders; interacting with and making recommendations to other clinical staff regarding medication therapy to ensure safe and effective care; documenting recommendations and interventions. Preferred Experience: Extensive Data Analysis Expertise. Proficient in data extraction, cleaning, manipulation, and analysis using tools such as SQL, R, Python, or similar. Experience in interpreting complex data sets to provide actionable insights that enhance clinical and operational decision-making. Proven track record of developing and implementing data-drive strategies to streamline pharmacy operations and improve patient outcomes. Clinical Application Coordinator (CAC) Experience. Demonstrated expertise in managing and supporting clinical applications within a healthcare setting. Experience coordinating with multidisciplinary teams to design, test and implement electronic health record (EHR) systems and other clinical software. Ability to serve as a liaison between pharmacy and staff and IT Departments to ensure seamless integration and optimal performance of clinical applications. Skilled in providing training, support, and troubleshooting for end-users to maximize the effective use of clinical applications In-depth knowledge of pharmacy automation systems, electronic prescribing and medication management technologies. Hands-on experience in optimizing pharmacy informatics workflows to enhance medication safety, accuracy and efficiency. Familiarity with regulatory standards and best practices in healthcare informatics, such as HL7, FHIR, and HIPAA. Demonstrated ability to lead initiatives from conception through implementation, ensuring projects are completed on time and within budget. Strong organizational skills with experience managing multiple projects simultaneously in a fast-paced environment. Effective communication skills, both written and verbal, to collaborate with stakeholders at all levels and present findings clearly and concisely. Facility Program Manager. Manages all aspects of a distinct program to include policy development, quality resources and specialty functions unique to the program to optimize cost effectiveness (budget) and patient outcomes. Coordinates a single program area of a complex pharmacy operation, or multiple program areas within a facility to develop, organize, manage, and control complex clinical applications and programs. Develops, organizes, coordinates and manages single or multiple program areas within the medical facility; this may include a single program area at multiple facilities. The Program Manager title is reserved for those individuals who have one or more of the following: supervisory responsibilities for various sections within Pharmacy Service; a complex program requiring coordination of multiple locations such as medical center care facilities, Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs), rural health, telemedicine, etc; specialized areas of a complex nature such as nuclear pharmacy, quality assurance, pharmacy informatics, clinical applications coordinator, Home Based Primary Care, pharmacoeconomist or liaison pharmacist duties requiring the coordination of processes with other medical facilities or VISNs. Pharmacists assigned to this position must demonstrate the following KSAs below: Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (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. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. Physical Requirements: The work is mainly sedentary but may require walking, bending, standing, and/or carry of light items such as paper, files, and manuals. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.
VA Careers - Pharmacy: https://youtube.com/embed/Fn_ickNBEws The incumbent serves as a liaison between the CHIO, Chief of Staff, Pharmacy, the direct patient care service chiefs, ancillary and administrative service chiefs, Biomed, and OI&T; regarding the electronic patient record and all clinical information system programs at this Medical Center and its outpatient clinics. The incumbent coordinates Order Entry and Results Reporting/Computerized Patient Record Systems (CPRS) programs, Clinical Procedures, Bar Code Medication Administration, and the related software packages that comprise those programs. The primary function of this position is to implement, coordinate, evaluate and manage the CPRS and Clinical Procedures programs as it relates to all interfacing clinical packages. The evaluation of the CPRS programs includes extensive testing of software upgrades in a mirrored test account to decrease impact on the end user and patient care. This requires extensive clinical working knowledge of clinical packages in the VISTA system. The incumbent develops, implements, validates, and maintains clinical protocols and data files used in these programs. The incumbent possesses the knowledge and experience to be able to sit on at least one Expert Panel for CPRS, Clinical Procedures, BCMA or any Clinical related packages. As an identified subject matter expert, the incumbent may serve as a program preceptor to other VISTA clinical information systems coordinators responsible for CPRS programs, and provides education and training on systems applications, file management and program development as required. The incumbent is a resource person to the clinical staff concerning VISTA clinical programs. These may be confined to a single service and/or extend across organizational lines. Problem solving involves consulting with service line managers/service chiefs, clinical users, vendors, and/or national program developers, to determine individual needs and develop a plan of action to correct/implement any required changes. The incumbent works with all medical center clinicians to analyze their problems and provide solutions or suggestions concerning the VISTA/GUI clinical programs. He/she implements modifications to address their concerns or issues as allowed within the framework of the VISTA information system. The incumbent also initiates regular reviews of the programs and consults with the administrative users to identify problems before they become deterrents to the use of the system. Extensive knowledge of the VISTA clinical information system programs to implement new applications and to maintain desired functions is required. Extensive knowledge and applications ability for all aspects of the CPRS, Clinical Procedures, BCMA, and Pharmacy programs is required. The incumbent has a high level of expertise in understanding and implementing integral aspects of the VISTA clinical programs. This knowledge base uniquely qualifies the incumbent to coordinate the integration and implementation of all clinical databases within the medical center environment. He/she also demonstrates the ability to analyze clinical information systems user sites to determine problems, note deficiencies and take appropriate corrective action. He/she trains physicians, dentists, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, pharmacists, and other clinical and administrative staff in the use of the CPRS programs and advises the clinical staff of those features of the CIS programs, which may help them, manage patients more efficiently. He/she is expected to organize and present educational sessions designed to help clinicians learn to use CPRS programs and any other VISTA clinical programs pertinent to their patient care functions. Training sessions are scheduled to accommodate the clinicians. Mechanisms are designed to accommodate the frequent rotational schedules of the house staff and the medical students and may require that training occurs on off tours. The incumbent may also assist in the training of clinical applications package coordinators (ADPAC) and other clinical coordinators. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm Telework: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: PD12593F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized