Summary

The Associate Chief promotes the culture of a High Reliability Organization with a focus on reporting, collecting data and continuously improving processes for medication safety. The Associate Chief will provide expertise relating to medication safety to include oversight of the appropriate prescribing, dispensing, and administering of medications, in particular as it pertains to the Electronic Health Record.

Duties

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Duties include but are not limited to:

• Collaborates with pharmacy personnel, pharmacy informaticists, VISN, and national groups to enter, coordinate, track, act upon, and resolve tickets for action/correction related to Oracle Health or other electronic medical record (EHR) pharmacy processes. Serves as a back-up for the pharmacy informaticist specific to EHR ticketing needs.
• Coordinates and communicates EHR related issues with counterparts at the site, VISN, and National levels. Issues of concern may include but are not limited to tickets, patient safety events, system vulnerabilities, and enhancement requests.
• Participates in meetings and workgroups/committees, and acts as a pharmacy champion for EHR-related issues.
• Analyzes data, identifies trends, prepares and/or reviews reports involving trend analyses related to the EHR. Brings to the attention of the Chief of Pharmacy those areas of possible weakness and performs follow-up in areas of concern.
• Serves as lead for medication error and adverse drug reaction reporting related to the EHR for pharmacy services and ensures appropriate reporting to the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee.
• Serves as a pharmacy point of contact (POC) for Joint Patient Safety Reporting (JPSR) event reports and investigates and provides reports back to Pharmacy leadership, as appropriate.
• Seeks to identify areas of quality and process improvement, leads change management efforts to improve pharmacy services, and uses data collection and analysis skills to measure key quality indicators.
• Develops and maintains a quality program to track and trend key performance indicators of quality for the pharmacy service.
• Assists in the training of pharmacy employees, pharmacy students, PGY1pharmacy practice residents, and pharmacy interns as assigned.
• Performs all supervisory functions for applicable pharmacy personnel, including the Informaticists, Residency Program Director/Student Coordinator, PMOP Coordinator, pharmacy intern students, and others as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday through Friday; 8:00 am. to 4:30 pm.

Telework: Ad-hoc as determined by the agency policy.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 92814-0

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

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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 identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• 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 [redacted]; phone: [redacted], or through their Web site 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.)

Graduates of foreign pharmacy degree programs meet the educational requirement if the 2 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.
• Exception. Non-licensed pharmacists who otherwise meet the eligibility requirements may be given a temporary appointment at the entry level as a Graduate Pharmacist under the authority of 38 U.S.C. a7 7405(c)(2)(B). The appointing official may waive the requirement of licensure for a period not to exceed 2 years for a pharmacist that provides care under the supervision of a licensed pharmacist. For grade levels above the GS-11, the candidate must be licensed.
• Failure to Obtain License. In all cases, pharmacists must actively pursue meeting state prerequisites for licensure starting from the date of their appointment. At the time of appointment, the supervisor will provide the unlicensed pharmacist with the written requirement to obtain licensure, the date by which the license must be acquired, and the consequences for not becoming licensed by the deadline. Failure to become licensed within 2 years from date of appointment will result in removal from the GS-0660 Pharmacist series and may result in termination of employment.

NOTE: Individuals who have or have had multiple licenses and had any such license revoked for professional misconduct, professional incompetence or substandard care, or who surrendered such license after receiving written notice of potential termination of such license by the State for professional misconduct, professional incompetence, or substandard care, are not eligible for appointment to the position unless such revoked or surrendered license is fully restored (38 U.S.C. a7 7402(f)). Effective November 30, 1999, this is a requirement for employment. This requirement does not apply to licensed pharmacists on VA rolls as of that date, provided they maintain continuous appointment and are not disqualified for employment by any subsequent revocations or voluntary surrenders of State license, registration or certification.

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: GS-14

Pharmacists assigned to this position must demonstrate the following knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs):

• Experience. In addition to the GS-13 requirements, must have 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level.
• Associate Service Chief. Responsible for coordinating multiple programs in pharmacy service in a medical facility. Serves as the Acting Service Chief in the absence of the Service Chief. Develops and maintains a system of internal reviews that ensure service programs operate at a satisfactory level of performance and in compliance with regulatory and accrediting bodies. Responsible for pharmacy utilization of resources and budget. Makes selections, assigns personnel, and serves as a mentor to help employees develop their full potential.

Demonstrated KSAs.

• Skill in persuading others and gaining cooperation to accomplish goals.
• Ability to effectively communicate orally and in writing regarding complex clinical and technical issues.
• Skill in utilizing regulatory and quality standards to develop and implement operational programs.
• Skill in managing multiple people or programs.
• Skill in utilizing available resources to support the missions and goals of the organization.
• Ability to plan, organize and direct the functions of the pharmacy staff.

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-14.

Physical Requirements: Work requires moderate lifting, walking, bending, stooping, standing, pushing, and pulling.

Education

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

The Electronic Health Record (EHR), Quality, and Academic Affairs Associate Chief provides leadership, coordination, clinical guidance, planning, and operational oversight for pharmacy service activities across the Central Ohio VA Health Care Center and affiliated community-based outpatient clinics. This position leads the administration and implementation of EHR systems, quality assurance initiatives, and academic affairs processes; collaborates with pharmacy staff, Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) and national teams to identify and resolve EHR-related issues; supports patient safety; monitors trends and operational challenges; and keeps the Chief of Pharmacy Service informed of significant developments.

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

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.

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.

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Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

Benefits

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A career with the U.S. government provides e