Clinical Pharmacy Specialist (PACT)

Quick Facts

• Role: Clinical Pharmacy Specialist (Patient Aligned Care Team, PACT)
• Practice: Direct patient care through face-to-face, telephone, and VA video connect (VVC)

Description

The Clinical Pharmacy Specialist (CPS) functions as an advanced practice provider and Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner (CPP) under their scope of practice to independently manage medication therapy for complex primary care patients. The role initiates, modifies, or discontinues medication therapy, designs and monitors therapeutic drug plans, and optimizes response while minimizing interactions, adverse effects, and polypharmacy. It also provides drug information, supports education and precepting, and may serve as an anticoagulation provider as scheduled.

Responsibilities

• Provide comprehensive medication management via face-to-face, telephone, and VA video connect (VVC) encounters
• Independently design, implement, and monitor therapeutic drug plans
• Initiate, modify, or discontinue medication therapy for intensive medication therapy management
• Order, perform, review, and analyze laboratory tests and diagnostic studies; follow up with patients on results
• Assess therapeutic appropriateness, including duplication and drug-drug, drug-food, drug-laboratory, and drug-disease interactions
• Determine when physician referral is needed when care falls outside CPP scope of practice
• Provide anticoagulation clinic coverage as needed/scheduled
• Supervise clinical pharmacy technician(s): monitor/direct work, set priorities, review and correct as needed
• Serve as drug information authority on drug usage, interactions, overdoses, and adherence
• Recommend formulary alternatives and complete non-formulary consults; respond to drug information inquiries
• Participate in staff development and provide pharmacy-related education to nursing/medical and other ancillary services
• Maintain professional competency with current medical/pharmaceutical literature and pharmacotherapy knowledge
• Precept pharmacy students and pharmacy residents; participate in training and in-servicing
• Support research activities in accordance with FDA/VHA policies (IRB/R&D submissions as required)
• Serve on medical center and/or VISN committees as assigned; follow all applicable policies and regulations

Requirements

• U.S. citizenship
• Full, current, unrestricted pharmacist license
• Pharm.D. or BS Pharmacy from an ACPE-accredited college/school of pharmacy
• Proficiency in written and spoken English
• Subject to background/security investigation; complete online onboarding and pre-employment physical evaluation
• Urinalysis requirement if selected for a testing-designated position
• Selective Service registration where applicable
• Seasonal influenza vaccination requirement

Benefits

A comprehensive federal benefits package is available; eligibility depends on the position type and schedule.