Pharmacy Practice Specialist - Specialty Pharmacy

The Ambulatory Care Pharmacy Practice Specialist provides comprehensive pharmaceutical care services to patients seen in UI Healthcare Ambulatory Care Pharmacies and clinics and by those served through the UI Health Care Specialty Pharmacy Services Program. The Pharmacy Practice Specialist is intended to serve as a leader for growth and standardization of centralized Telephonic and TeleHealth clinical services and education provided by pharmacy staff. This individual will serve as a resource for pharmacy staff and multi-disciplinary teams as he/she carries out the Departments and UI Health Cares tripartite missions of patient care teaching and research both in the Ambulatory Care Pharmacy and in those ambulatory clinics where pharmaceutical care is directly provided.

The individual will provide patient education and patient care assist with dispensing functions and improve processes and resources for UI Health Care Specialty Pharmacy Staff in current and new therapeutic areas.

This position will also serve as a member on the Quality and Clinic Oversight Committees and perform all related duties including but not limited to: development of quality improvement projects with a clinical emphasis improvement of turnaround time for therapy initiation and reporting of clinical outcomes and quality metrics. Pharmacy Practice Specialists serve as role models for other Department of Pharmaceutical Care staff residents and students who look to improve their own professional capabilities and level of services particularly in the provision and expansion of ambulatory pharmacy services. This position

Human Resource Management

• Supervises specialty pharmacy student interns in coordination with technician supervisors and pharmacy manager.
• Coordinate and provide daily support for student interns.
• Coordinate and manage student intern scheduling.
• Manages the hiring of student interns including candidate evaluation interviewing and onboarding.
• Meet with staff routinely to advance engagement and support.
• Provide staff feedback and support Human Resources initiatives in a positive manner.
• Review errors and provide coaching consistent with a Just Culture environment.
• Create an environment that encourages high performance accountability and teamwork.
• Develops manages optimizes and evaluates the student performance and advancement through the intern program.
• Ensures staff are compliant with policies procedures regulations and competencies.

Provides Therapeutic Drug Monitoring (TDM) on clinic-administered medications and take-home/shipped prescription orders.

• Completes a comprehensive patient assessment which may include a physical assessment evaluation of the patients medications and an evaluation of the patients medical history.
• Evaluates all prescription orders to ensure the appropriateness of the following:
  • Indication for use
  • Dose
  • Route of administration
  • Drug interactions
  • Dose adjustments for organ dysfunction
  • Physical and therapeutic incompatibilities
  • Drug-induced side effects and adverse reactions
  • Potential drug misuse or abuse
  • Use of the most cost-effective therapy
  • Duplicate therapy
• Ensures pharmacokinetic assessment of drug dosing on targeted patients through:
  • Clinical assessment of patients and desired therapeutic endpoints
  • Preparation of formal dosing recommendations
• Communicates with prescribers and/or clinic pharmacy specialists about patient medication needs.
• Conducts review of patient profiles and updates as needed based upon findings at time of patient visit.
• Provides appropriate drug information to other healthcare professionals.
• Confirms/clarifies (assesses) all patient drug allergies noted in the medical record.
• Participates in collecting and documenting medication histories on patients.
• Evaluates patient compliance with prescribed medication therapy and identifies problems that may lead to partial or noncompliance.
• Utilizes appropriate resources and coordinates the resolution of financial concerns/burdens with department financial counselors.

Documents All Patient Care Activities Performed

The active participation of the pharmacist as a member of the healthcare team requires efficient communication of activities to all those who participate in the care of patients. Provision of pharmacy-related services requires the sharing of information with other members of the team through documentation within the patient medical record and other on-line reporting systems as well as through intradepartmental channels which provide adequate documentation of such services to departmental and hospital administrative personnel.

• Documents all patient drug allergies and patient-specific height and weight information.
• Documents medication histories.
• Documents the provision of medication counseling to patients.
• Documents interventions with prescribers and other healthcare providers.
• Documents patient interactions those that occur in the clinic and when the patient is located elsewhere (e.g. at home as an inpatient in the Ambulatory Care Pharmacy).
• Documents applicable drug dosing recommendations made to prescribers.
• Documents applicable Drug Use Evaluation Program activities.
• Documents steps taken to identify evaluate or avoid adverse drug reactions.

Coordinates Patient Communications and Interactions

The pharmacist explains to patients with targeted needs the pharmaceutical care services they receive and the value of these services in ensuring appropriate continuity of care and proper medication utilization. The pharmacy practice specialist takes a leading role in ensuring the appropriate coordination of services for both UI Health Care and non-UI Health Care specialty patients.

• Takes medication history.
• Discusses and confirms patients drug allergy history.
• Conducts patient teaching classes (where appropriate).
• Provides medication counseling.
• Anticipates patient needs and answers patient questions as required.
• Communicates patient information to local healthcare providers involved with the patients care to ensure appropriate continuity of care.
• Provides support for Prior Auth/Benefits Investigation and Patient Management team in dealing with complex patient issues.
• Uses standard documentation to record Specialty Pharmacy Services enrollment information and other relevant information in the EHR.

Facilitates Operational Initiatives Which Lead to Enhanced Patient Care Services

The pharmacy practice specialist must assume the role of patient advocate for all issues associated with drug therapy. The pharmacy practice specialist must position him/herself to positively influence therapeutic decisions which will affect patients and their care. Participation in hospital-wide programs intended to improve care (e.g. the Drug Use Evaluation Program and Adverse Drug Reaction Reporting Program) serves as a valuable quality-of-service surveillance tool and promotes healthcare provider education.

• Serves as a lead for service line development for remote clinical management of UI Health Care Specialty pharmacy patients.
• Facilitates optimization of clinical pharmacist and clinical pharmacy specialist collaboration with Specialty Pharmacy Services management.
• Carries out as appropriate Medication Use Evaluation Program initiatives through active prescriber intervention and education.
• Serves and leads intra- and interdepartmental committees task forces and teams as required.
• Facilitates developments of metrics and audits to ensure timeliness quality of clinical services provided.
• Assists with Specialty Quality and Clinical Oversight Committee initiatives to enhance patient care and safety.
• Ensure compliance of SPS with specialty pharmacy accreditation standards and other regulatory requirements.
• Assist Ambulatory Care Managers with demonstration of improved clinical outcomes and patient safety

Provides Educational Services

An important responsibility of the clinical pharmacist is the education of students fellow staff other healthcare providers and patients about drugs and their appropriate use. New and future pharmacy practitioners are continually exposed to the day-to-day activities of the practicing clinical pharmacist; thus the clinical pharmacist must serve as a role model for these staff and students. The educational process must also transcend professional boundaries as the clinical pharmacist interacts with and serves as an information resource for other members of the health care team. Lastly the clinical pharmacist takes great care to instruct all patients about the need for and appropriate use of prescribed medications.

• Serves as preceptor for pharmacy students and pharmacy residents on clinical rotations sponsored by the UI Health Care Department of Pharmaceutical Care.
• Presents inservice educational programs to staff nurses physicians and other colleagues on the healthcare team.
• Presents at and/or participates in other educational programs sponsored by the Department of Pharmaceutical Care the College of Pharmacy other UI Health Care or UI departments and state and national organizations.
• Conducts educational classes for pharmacy students and pharmacy residents as appropriate.
• Conducts patient education classes about the proper use of medications as appropriate.
• Serves as mentor and role model for other pharmacist practitioners within the department particularly those who provide ambulatory care services.
• Assists in the training of new staff members.

Facilitates Continuity of Care

The pharmacist participates in the facilitation of patient transfer from the inpatient to the outpatient setting as well as in ensuring continuity of patient care for chronic drug therapies. Assessment of adherence issues and solutions is completed on an on-going basis.

Participates in Research

The pharmacist participates in research activities as appropriate including providing support for Investigational Drug Service prescriptions and orders. This research may take many forms including developmental evaluative and/or clinical research. It may be intradepartmental or interdisciplinary in format. The presentation and/or publication of research findings are encouraged.

Complete and maintain compliance with all competencies and educational requirements.