Clarification from the agency

Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred in the following order: 1. Current permanent VA employees of the facility. 2. All other VA employees. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

Videos

The Cincinnati VA Medical Center (CVAMC) is a two-division campus located in Cincinnati, OH and Fort Thomas, KY serving 15 counties in Southwest OH, Northern Kentucky, and Southeast Indiana with 6 Community Based Outpatient Clinics located in Bellevue, KY; Florence, KY; Lawrenceburg, IN; Hamilton, OH; Clermont County, OH, and Georgetown, OH. The CVAMC also supports two off main campus locations in the Cincinnati area via an Eye Center and Mental Health Outreach Community Division.

Duties:
a. Community Care/Non-VA Prescription Support
1) Receives faxed, mailed, electronically prescribed, or delivered prescriptions written by Non-VA providers and processes all received prescriptions to include assessment of appropriateness and eligibility, prioritizing urgent prescriptions first.
2) Reviews EHR or other related sites to determine authorization and eligibility of approved Community Care by the Cincinnati VA Medical Center.
3) Communicates with Patient Aligned Care Teams (PACT) as well as patients, as needed, concerning prescriptions received from unauthorized community visits. Prescriptions not covered by an authorized Community Care Consult are triaged back to PACT via secure email
or, if a hard-copy prescription, given back to the patient. A note is placed in the EHR for documentation purposes indicating the situation and medication.
4) Reviews authorized prescriptions for appropriateness using pharmacy technician knowledge. This should include evaluation of national and local formulary requirements.
5) Communicates with Community Care o??ices to request clarification of prescriptions. Communication may also include requested medication changes due to VA formulary, Nonformulary consult approvals, or Non formulary consult denials.

a) All information received regarding changes and clarifications should be transferred to a licensed pharmacist to receive from the Non-VA representative.

6) Initiates the non-formulary/prior authorization process with the Non-VA provider and records needed documentation in electronic health record.
7) Follows up via phone and/or fax with Non-VA Provider regarding initiated communications concerning non-formulary/prior authorization medications, clarifications, or medication change requests frequently, and documents in electronic health record.
8) Enters non-formulary or prior authorization consult requests in electronic health record for review and completion by a Clinical Pharmacist.
9) Inputs authorized prescriptions or prepares electronically prescribed medications in VISTA for the review and verification by a Clinical Pharmacist.
10) Contacts patients with updates on Non-VA prescriptions and documents in electronic health record, as needed or requested.
11) Organizes and files all prescriptions, communications, progress notes, or other documents for easy retrieval. This may include sending to the scanning department for input into VISTA imaging.
12) Assists in the tracking and shipping of Non-VA prescribed controlled substances, as well as all Non-VA prescribed medications mailed from the Cincinnati VA Medical Center Pharmacy or Consolidated Mail-Out Pharmacy (CMOP).
13) Maintains a current knowledge of national, state, and local laws, regulations, directives, policies, and procedures pertaining to controlled substances.
14) Triages prescriptions received via CBOC courier that patients had brought into their teams and needed processed through pharmacy.
15) Communicates with Procurement/Inventory Pharmacist or Procurement Technician when specialty medications need to be ordered.
16) Assist procurement with collection of documentation or completed prescriptions needed for specialty medication requests.

b. Telephone Triage
1) Triage inbound and outbound phone calls relating to community care that do not require a pharmacists' oversight.
2) Utilizes pharmacy information systems to answer patient or provider questions related to status of their prescription(s), completion date, package tracking, etc.
3) Educates patients, staff, and non-VA offices on pharmacy processes, as needed.
4) Transfers calls to the Community Care pharmacists, when needed and as appropriate.
5) Documents phone conversations in electronic health record for future reference if appropriate.
6) Functions as a resource person to members of the pharmacy, medical center, and CBOCs regarding Non-VA Care Prescriptions.

c. ePharmacy
1) Resolves ePharmacy rejects for Refill Too Soon and Drug Utilization Review Reasons
2) Sends rejects to Clinical Pharmacist for resolution when appropriate.
3) Interacts with patients, providers and other VA staff and third party payers as needed to resolve rejects

Work Schedule: Hours between 7 AM and 6 PM, rotating shifts.
Telework: Not Authorized
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 93423-A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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 dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• 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.
• 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).

• Foreign Education. To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must be deemed at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. program by a private organization specializing in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials.
• English Language Proficiency. Pharmacy Technician candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English to be appointed as authorized by 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

Grade Determinations:
Pharmacy Technician, GS-08.

(1) Experience. Candidates must possess one year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS7) and demonstrate the KSAs below.

(2) 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.

(3) 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:

(a) Comprehensive knowledge of concepts, principles, methodology and policies in a specialized area or section of pharmacy (such as sterile compounding, controlled substances, automation, clinical pharmacy, contact center, etc.) Note: See Specialized Area.in the Definitions Section.

(b) Skill in training and orienting new and existing pharmacy facility employees and students on proper policies and procedures.

(c) Ability to evaluate, analyze and coordinate workflow and work activities within a specialized area or section of the pharmacy.

• 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 have a higher level of responsibility for specialized areas of pharmacy and are expected to independently carry out assigned tasks of considerable difficulty. Pharmacy technicians at this grade level may be appointed to one of the following assignments:

• (a) 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.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is 8.

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.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.