Clinical Pharmacy Specialist - Ambulatory Specialty Clinics

The University of Iowa Health Care, Department of Pharmaceutical Care is seeking a Clinical Pharmacy Specialist to join our team.  This ambulatory pharmacist will work with other pharmacists in various adult specialty clinics such as Autoimmune, Pulmonary, Neurology, Transplant, Hepatology, and Virology to provide pharmacy services to patients. The pharmacist works collaboratively with the multidisciplinary healthcare team to provide care for patients in these clinics. They will answer clinical questions about medications, provide education on new therapies and medication devices, coordinate dispensing, as well as medication monitoring and management for patients receiving specialty medications through UIHC Specialty Pharmacy Services. The pharmacist also serves as a role-model/practitioner-educator for Doctor of Pharmacy students and pharmacy residents and carries out clinical practice responsibilities for the Department of Pharmaceutical Care.

Position Responsibilities:

Patient Care - Participate in the provision of pharmaceutical care in select clinics

1. Be present in clinics when patients are scheduled to see the clinical pharmacist and when clinical pharmacy services are required 
2. Complete a comprehensive patient assessment including medication history, pertinent physical assessment, and assessment of relevant laboratory values, patient interview, and an evaluation of past medical history for appropriate patients
3. Work with physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other health care providers as a member of the multi-disciplinary team
4. Provide disease state management and medication therapy management services through the use of collaborative practice agreements and protocols
5. Provide in-depth patient medication assessment and education
6. Provide follow-up of therapeutic recommendations through telephone calls and return clinic appointments as appropriate
7. Identify, evaluate, and prevent adverse drug events through appropriate interventions
8. Communicate therapeutic recommendations to the health care provider
9. Document relevant clinical information in electronic medical record
10. Coordinate medication-planning activities including facilitation of prescription writing, patient education, coordination with family members or home health care providers, etc.
11. Collaboratively address financial issues to ensure receipt of needed medications
12. Provide drug information and education to health care professionals
13. Serve as liaison for ambulatory pharmacy staff regarding patient medication therapy
14. Evaluate patient-specific medication regimens to ensure the appropriateness of the following:
    • Indication
    • Correct dose
    • Route of administration
    • Drug-drug, drug-food, drug-lab, or drug-disease state interactions
    • Efficacy of therapy
    • Adherence to therapy
    • Dose adjustments for organ dysfunction
    • Adverse drug reactions
    • Potential drug misuse or abuse
    • Use of the most cost-effective therapy
    • Availability of medications on the UIHC Formulary (if applicable)
15. Provide staffing support in Specialty Pharmacy Services when needed
16. Complete patient follow-up calls to address side-effects/adherence

Residency Training and Student Teaching Programs

1. Develop goals and objectives for pharmacy residency programs and Doctor of Pharmacy advanced pharmacy practice and introductory pharmacy practice experiences
2. Prepare and administer pharmacy student and / or resident rotation evaluations
3. Participate in the formal experiential training and didactic teaching required to conduct the pharmacy residency programs and Doctor of Pharmacy advanced pharmacy practice and introductory pharmacy practice experiences
4. Participate in recruiting activities for pharmacy residency programs

Provide daily communication and follow-up to other clinical pharmacists, pharmacy areas, and other health care professionals as needed

1. Provide in-service education to pharmacists as needed
2. Provide in-service education to members of the health care team as needed
3. Assist physicians, nurses, health care team members, and patients with medication questions, medication access and continuity of care issues

Documentation of patient care activities in accreditation compliant manners:

1. Clinical services and patient care activities in the electronic medical record
2. Patient assessment and therapeutic plan recommendations
3. Medication errors into standard reporting system
4. Adverse drug reactions into standard reporting system
5. Patient allergies and height/weight information as needed
6. Medication counseling provided to patients
7. Interventions with prescribers and other health care providers
8. Clinic and follow-up telephone encounters
9. Others as required

Develop and provide new department clinical service initiatives, which may require any or all of the following:

1. Participate in the rotation with other specialists to support 24-hour, 7-day/week on-call coverage to ambulatory care patients for drug therapy issue problem solving. This occurs approximately 1-2 weeks per year and historically has low usage.
2. Develop or contribute to the development of protocols related to appropriate prescribing, dispensing and monitoring of specialty medications
3. Provide a leadership role in department or interdisciplinary hospital committees involved with drug therapy issues
4. Develop or contribute to the development of drug information resources such as pocket cards and practice guidelines that are distributed hospital wide to foster cost effective, rational prescribing
5. Design, implement, and coordinate development of the clinical components of the pharmacy or hospital wide information systems

Administration

1. Coordinate therapeutic decision-making when there is a paucity of literature or experience for reference
2. Serve as the primary reference source on new drug therapy advances in the specialized area of practice
3. Identify and resolve significant/highly unusual patient drug therapy problems
4. Complete clinically oriented departmental goals
5. Develop and coordinate policies, procedures, and clinical reference documents relevant to the clinical applications of new therapies
6. Manage and analyze events related to medication errors – including participation in informal multi-disciplinary sentinel event review teams
7. Interview and evaluate prospective professional pharmacy practitioners
8. Adhere to all department policies and procedures
9. Contribute to the department budgetary process by reviewing, designing, implementing, and monitoring budget initiatives that address hospital wide or unit specific issues
10. Participate with the implementation and monitoring of new programs developed either by the Department or through another means (e.g., P&T Committee)

Quality Improvement

1. Provide a leadership role in university committees involved with drug therapy
2. Develop and conduct measurement activities that demonstrate Specialty Pharmacy Service value, including adherence and outcome measures
3. Perform quality assurance monitoring of services provided by the UIHC Specialty Pharmacy Services
4. Develop educational programs to certify the clinical competence of pharmacists and improve the technician understanding of medical conditions being treated

Other

1. Conduct research in area of expertise and present/publish results at professional meetings or in professional journals
2. Consistently demonstrate the WECARE values and Service Excellence culture of UIHC
3. Complete and maintain compliance with all competencies and educational requirements