Pharmacy Technician Inpatient/Outpatient

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Fort Wayne (IN); On-site; USD 42,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

VA Northern Indiana Health Care System Pharmacy Service is seeking a certified pharmacy technician at the GS-07 level. The incumbent will support pharmacists in delivering timely, high-quality patient care in accordance with VA policies and standards.

Eligible applicants may be referred while meeting certification requirements. The position emphasizes independent judgment, mentoring staff, and handling diverse pharmacy duties across clinical areas.

Qualifications

• Knowledge of pharmacy technician principles, practices, concepts and theories.
• Knowledge of the computerized prescription process and input of prescriptions or orders.
• Ability to resolve issues with healthcare team and patients.

Responsibilities

• Mentor and train lower graded pharmacy technicians.
• Perform full range of duties with independent judgement.
• Assist in compounding sterile products and handling prescriptions as required.

Skills

Pharmacy principles

Electronic prescriptions

Interdisciplinary teamwork

Mentoring trainees

Medication distribution

ADE troubleshooting

Job description

This position is for a certified pharmacy technician above the full performance level GS-7 at VA Northern Indiana Health Care System. The employee will assist the pharmacist in providing optimal care and timely service in accordance with the mission, vision, and goals of VA Northern Indiana Health Care System Pharmacy Service. 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.
• Experience: Candidates must possess one year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level and demonstrate the KSAs below.
• Certification. For positions above the full performance level, the employee must pass a national certification exam and hold an active national certification through either:
• Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB), Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT). OR
• National Healthcareer Association (NHA), Certified Pharmacy Technician (ExCPT) 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

Pharmacy Technician, GS-07

Experience: Candidates must possess one year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level and demonstrate the KSAs below.

Certification: For positions above the full performance level, the employee must pass a national certification exam and hold an active national certification through either:

1. PTCB as a CPhT.

OR

1. NHA as a ExCPT

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs

• Knowledge of pharmacy technician principles, practices, concepts and theories providing for sound independent work.
• Knowledge of the computerized prescription process and input of prescriptions and medication orders or electronic equivalent.
• Ability to resolve pharmacy/medication issues with other members of the healthcare team, Veterans and external customers.
• Ability to train developmental pharmacy technicians and students.
• Ability to dispense medication or sterile products following all regulations, policies and procedures to ensure safe medication distribution.
• Ability to troubleshoot automated dispensing equipment (ADE) or technology platforms/databases

Assignments.

For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity and range of variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Pharmacy technicians at this level are nationally certified and can work autonomously using independent judgement to perform a full range of duties. These pharmacy technicians mentor and train lower graded pharmacy technicians in the practice setting. They assist advanced/ specialized pharmacy technicians and participate in performance improvement initiatives. At this level, pharmacy technicians use independent judgement to perform the full range of duties in the pharmacy. They also function as staff pharmacy technicians in various locations of the pharmacy, including pharmacy contact centers and other non-traditional pharmacy locations, with minimal oversight.

Pharmacy Technician.

Pharmacy technicians in this assignment specialize in areas such as sterile compounding, oncology, controlled substances, medication history review, clinical specialist (anticoagulation, pain, infectious diseases), clinical informatics, automation, immunizations and any other specialized area in the advancement of the profession. The pharmacy technician will serve as a subject matter expert and key resource in the day-to-day technician duties of the specialized area. The technician will be performing assignments such as compounding sterile products, filling controlled substance prescriptions while maintaining compliance with Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) regulations, taking medication histories and counseling patients, managing automation, managing workflow and training and orienting staff in the specialized area.

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).

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-07.

Physical Requirements:

You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position. Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination.