Pharmacy Technician(Clinical Technician)

This position is located within the Pharmacy service located at the Augusta VA Medical Center. The incumbent provides advanced clinical and technical support in the outpatient pharmacy, improving prescription processing, patient satisfaction, and medication access. Performs complex dispensing, refill processing, clinical reviews, and customer service functions under pharmacist oversight to enhance safe and efficient patient care.

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/ . RESPONSIBILITIES: VA Careers - Pharmacy : https://youtube.com/embed/Fn_ickNBEws

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Major duties include but are not limited to:

Deliver high-level customer service; resolve prescription issues, review refill requests, track undeliverable mail, and support patient education.

Monitor audio fax/MyHealtheVet refill systems; scan and process mailed and in-person refill requests.

Review medication profiles for duplication, noncompliance, adverse reactions, and allergy issues; report findings to pharmacists.

Review labs for selected disease states and identify abnormal values for pharmacist action.

Support validation of community care prescriptions and E-Rx transmissions for pharmacist review.

Input and process refill prescriptions in VistA; prepare orders for mail-out or pharmacist verification.

Fill and label prescriptions accurately; update medication profiles; correct label information.

Identify basic therapeutic problems and alert pharmacists for potential interventions.

Serve as back-up controlled substances technician, maintaining required dispensing and documentation standards.

Participate in quality assurance, process improvement, and workload data collection.

Perform duties of lower-grade technicians and other assigned tasks to support pharmacy operations.

Work Schedule : 7:30am-4:00pm, Weekends, Holidays

Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized

Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases

Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)

Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.

Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66 .

Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA

Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)

Telework : Not Available

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement # : 58527F

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized QUALIFICATIONS: 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.

Education or Experience:

(1) None required.

(2) For all grade levels and positions that accept both education and experience to qualify, equivalent combinations of qualifying education and experience that total at least 100% are qualifying. The combined percentage is determined by adding total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level to the education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level.

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) Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB), Certified Pharmacy Technician (CPhT), OR

2) 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 : GS-08

Experience: Candidates must possess one year of experience demonstrating the below GS-7 KSA's :

Ability to evaluate physician orders by reviewing for accuracy, completeness, and appropriateness.

Knowledge of medication preparation requirements, including drug strengths, dosage forms, routes, and storage.

Skill in using pharmacy automation and equipment (e.g., dispensing machines, packaging, bar-coding).

Knowledge of pharmaceutical products sufficient to fill orders and identify potential dispensing issues.

Ability to identify basic therapeutic problems (duplicate therapy, drug interactions) and alert pharmacists.

Ability to perform technical tasks independently in areas such as unit dose, outpatient dispensing, compounding, and controlled substances

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

(a) PTCB as a CPhT.

OR

(b) NHA as a ExCPT.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs):

In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs for all GS-08 assignments and meet any additional KSAs for the assignment, if indicated:

Ability to evaluate medication orders for accuracy and completeness, including appropriateness for the patient.

Advanced knowledge of drug products, dosage forms, hazards, and preparation/dispensing requirements.

Skill in operating, maintaining, and troubleshooting automated dispensing systems and specialized equipment.

Knowledge of hazardous drug handling, sterile/non-sterile compounding guidelines, and medication safety standards.

Ability to conduct medication history interviews and document allergies/adverse reactions.

Knowledge of pharmacy regulations, VHA policies, and compliance requirements, including controlled substances procedures.

Ability to support pharmacists in clinical functions, perform advanced medication profile reviews, and document clinical findings.

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-08.

Physical Requirements: The work requires regular and recurring physical exertion, involving standing or sitting for prolonged periods of time, typing, walking distances within the medical center, lifting/ carrying (up to 40 pounds) of pharmaceutical supplies, and bending/stooping/stretching. SALARY: QuantitativeValue EMPLOYMENT TYPE: Other

Salary : $417