DescriptionThe Clinical Pharmacy Specialist - Infectious Diseases & OPAT will serve as a subject matter expert for infectious diseases pharmacotherapy and outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (OPAT) at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.
In this role, the Clinical Pharmacy Specialist will spend at least 80% of their time performing activities related to OPAT and management of antimicrobials at transitions of care. This includes leadership of the Infectious Diseases Transition Service (IDTS), a well-established, pharmacy-based service which oversees the safe provision of more than 600 OPAT courses annually. The Clinical Pharmacy Specialist will collaborate closely with pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, infectious diseases physicians, advanced practice providers, nursing, and other disciplines while providing expert-level clinical pharmacy services to patients receiving antimicrobial therapy across the continuum of care. In addition to supporting daily IDTS operations, the Clinical Pharmacy Specialist will participate in ongoing quality and process improvement, guideline and policy development, monitoring of program outcomes, research, education, and training as they relate to the OPAT domain.
In addition to the OPAT focus of this role, the Clinical Pharmacy Specialist will spend up to 20% of their time supporting inpatient Infectious Diseases/Antimicrobial Stewardship (ID/AMS)-related pharmacy services. Core activities within this domain include cross-coverage of AMS workflows (e.g., restricted antimicrobial preauthorization, prospective audit and feedback, participation in antimicrobial stewardship rounds); responding to ID/AMS-related clinical questions or drug information queries from other healthcare professionals, including the ID consult services; therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) for antimicrobials; and education and training support for pharmacists, residents, students, and other healthcare professionals.
Responsibilities:- Provides expert clinical advice and direction for patients receiving outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy
- Coordinates with home infusion companies, infusion centers, skilled nursing or rehabilitation facilities, dialysis centers, long-term acute care hospitals, or other entities
- Recommends laboratory monitoring for outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy regimens and clinically assesses and/or acts upon results in a timely manner
- Leads and participates in Infectious Diseases Transition Service strategic planning, maintenance, monitoring, and quality improvement initiatives
- Collaborates and communicates with the multidisciplinary healthcare team to ensure the safe and effective use of antimicrobial therapy
- Provides optimal pharmacy service to patients and other healthcare professionals by designing, recommending, monitoring, evaluating and documenting patient-specific pharmacotherapy plans
- Monitors drug therapy to evaluate appropriateness of use, dose, dosage form, regimen, route, therapeutic duplication, and drug interactions
- Provides therapeutic drug monitoring and other laboratory monitoring recommendations at the patient or program level, for applicable antimicrobial agents
- Responds to drug information or infectious diseases-related questions in a timely and comprehensive manner, accounting for patient- and disease-specific considerations
- Supports AMS clinical workflows in accordance with the HUP Antimicrobial Stewardship program mission
- Uses thought, knowledge, logic, and methods to solve problems with effective solutions
- Contributes to guideline and policy development related to outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy and related services
- Contributes to research and scholarly activities related to outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy, infectious diseases pharmacotherapy, and/or antimicrobial stewardship
- Contributes to education and training for pharmacists, trainees, and other healthcare professionals relating to outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy, infectious diseases pharmacotherapy, and/or antimicrobial stewardship
- Detects, monitors, documents, and reports adverse drug reactions and medication safety events
- Performs duties in accordance with Penn Medicine and entity values, policies, and procedures
Credentials: - Licensed or eligible for pharmacist licensure in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (required)
Education or Equivalent Experience: - Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree from an ACPE-accredited college of pharmacy (required)
- Successful completion of an ASHP-accredited PGY-2 Infectious Diseases Pharmacy residency program AND 2+ years of relevant infectious diseases practice experience (required)
- Active Board Certification in Infectious Diseases Pharmacy (BCIDP; required)
- Experience designing, guiding, and/or monitoring OPAT regimens (required)
- Demonstration of leadership skills and contributions to pharmacy practice (required)
- Experience precepting pharmacy students and residents (preferred)
We believe that the best care for our patients starts with the best care for our employees. Our employee benefits programs help our employees get healthy and stay healthy. We offer a comprehensive compensation and benefits program that includes one of the finest prepaid tuition assistance programs in the region. Penn Medicine employees are actively engaged and committed to our mission. Together we will continue to make medical advances that help people live longer, healthier lives.
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