FLSA Status

Job Role Summary

The Inpatient Pharmacist serves as an essential personnel of the healthcare team providing expertise in the medication use process for hospitalized patients.  In this role, the pharmacist is responsible for ensuring safe and effective use of medications through oversight of order verification, product preparation, and drug dispensing.  The Inpatient Pharmacist also provides clinical oversight of the hospitalize patient through drug monitoring, medication therapy management, and the development of patient-specific pharmacotherapy plans.  

Essential Functions and Responsibilities

• Performs all duties with a focus on safety, recognizing that safety is our top priority; evaluates compliance with established medication safety procedures; offers suggestions to improve medication safety based on best practice (e.g. ISMP); routinely documents medication errors; promotes an environment with a constant focus on medication safety
• Performs the following clinical skills: consistently performs clinical duties by reviewing patient medical records, diagnosis, laboratory values, drug-drug interactions, therapeutic duplications, drug-disease contraindications, and allergies to guide therapeutic decisions; consistently resolves, documents, and communicates appropriate clinical concerns; aids in the development of patient-specific pharmacotherapy plans considerate of patient, disease state, and available medical literature; provides information concerning medications to prescribers, nurses, and other health professionals; assists with formulary management by critically evaluating non-formulary requests and, where appropriate, recommending therapeutic alternatives; adheres to drug use criteria
• Performs the following technical skills: consistently and accurately enters orders into the electronic health record and ensures medications are accurately prepared and labeled prior to dispensing; prepares/oversees preparation of IV admixtures, including parenteral nutrition and chemotherapy; understands departmental workflows; offers and implements suggestions to improve quality and efficiency; understands and consistently utilizes all information systems including, but not limited to, Central Pharmacy Manager, Epic, OmniCenter (OCRA), and Omnicell IVX
• Performs the following supervisory skills: supervises and directs technicians; provides feedback on technician performance to area manager; analyzes and adapts to changes in volume and staffing; organizes, deploys, and redeploys staff to maintain workflow; ensures efficient use of downtime; works with a sense of urgency to assist customers and encourages the same sense of urgency in others; resolves crisis situations in a calm, constructive, and professional manner; educates and trains staff to ensure compliance with established policies and procedures
• Maintains responsibility for regulatory compliance, to include the following: performs controlled substance accountability duties in assigned work area including, but not limited to, investigating and resolving discrepancies; ensures 100% timely completion of ward inspections; ensures constant state of readiness for The Joint Commission, DEA, Board of Pharmacy, Board of Health, and all other regulatory bodies, and suggests and implements process improvement throughout the department to assist in maintaining a constant state of readiness; consistently maintains compliance with all hospital and departmental policies and procedures
• Works collaboratively with multidisciplinary team members to provide patient-centered care; anticipates service needs and proactively resolves issues
• Encourages a teamwork environment through the following: positive staff morale by developing and maintaining working relationships with pharmacy management, clinical specialists, pharmacy technicians, support staff, pharmacy residents, and pharmacy students; fosters an environment of accountability with fellow pharmacists and technicians
• Remains up-to-date on departmental processes by attending staff meetings, reviewing meeting minutes, and reading email communications
• Maintains and enhances professional knowledge of drugs and drug therapy through review of professional literature, attendance at professional organization meetings, institutes, seminars and/or webinars, and completion of continuing education

Job Requirements

•    Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree preferred, or Bachelor of Science (BS) in Pharmacy with equivalent experience
•    Licenses/Certification required: Licensure in the State of Indiana or licensure eligible (if licensure eligible, attainment of license within 90 days of hire)
•    Completion of a PGY1 pharmacy practice residency or a minimum of five years full-time experience in hospital pharmacy with experience in distribution of medications for pediatric, adolescent, adult, and geriatric patients preferred
•    Certification through the Board of Pharmacy Specialties preferred
•    Participation in continuing education activities to meet licensure and certification requirements
 

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

•    Knowledge of medication classes, pharmaceutical terminology, abbreviations, symbols; knowledge of manufacturing, packaging and labeling of drug products, use of pharmaceutical instruments and equipment;  knowledge of metric system/mathematical calculations; knowledge of regulatory standards related to non-sterile compounding, sterile compounding, and hazardous drugs