Clinical Pharmacist jobs in Altoona, PA

Clinical Pharmacist – Infectious Diseases and Antimicrobial Stewardship

Purpose:
Ensure the provision of cost-effective pharmacotherapy contributing to optimal patient outcomes, provide experiential education for present and future health care practitioners, and support drug-related research. These services will be provided in compliance with federal and state regulations; JCAHO standards; and health system, hospital, and department policies. Support a variety of patient populations, ranging from geriatrics to pediatrics. Inpatient and outpatient practice areas include, but are not limited to general medicine, surgery, intensive care, transplantation, orthopedics, oncology, and cardiology.

Responsibilities:

• Demonstrate a service orientation toward patients, staff, and visitors. Conveys a positive, professional image at all times.
• Complete all required professional and department competency assessment programs as required.
• Identify and document interventions in care using formal DUDSM Program outcome assessment tools. Report any preventable or occurring adverse drug events or medication errors as required. Discuss events with pertinent practitioners and pharmacy leadership as required.
• Evaluate patient pharmacotherapy for appropriateness of drug selection, dosage, dosage form, route, and duration, taking into account patient disease state(s), diagnosis, age, weight, gender, eliminating organ function, concurrent medications, and allergies.
• Develop educational materials for in-service programs including, but not limited to, disease management, pharmacotherapeutic options, and initiative enforcement strategy.
• Mentor and/or precept pharmacy students and residents to facilitate ongoing teaching programs and support departmental and School of Pharmacy missions.
• Provide health care team members with accurate responses to drug information questions in a timely manner utilizing available primary and tertiary reference electronic and written information sources.
• Participate in multidisciplinary development of new initiative ideas by reviewing literature, preparing initiative proposals, and/or discussing implementation and educational strategies.
• Contribute to development of workflow guidelines, procedures, and other necessary tools (productivity monitoring, intervention documentation tracking, etc.) to maximize productivity and standardize patient assessment approaches in the DUDSM practice area.
• Contribute to discussion and/or development of collaborative research projects as opportunities present related to DUDSM Program clinical initiatives and departmental programs.
• Maintain collaborative, interactive relationships with other members of the health care team in discussion of patient pharmacotherapy and disease management issues.
• Facilitate and/or assist with the development and implementation of continuous quality improvement projects based on DUDSM Program clinical initiatives and departmental programs.
• Provide educational programs to pharmacy, nursing, medical staff and other related disciplines on DUDSM Program clinical initiatives and Pharmacy Department programs.
• Enforce and support Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee activities such as DUDSM Program clinical initiatives, formulary decisions, adverse event monitoring, and procedure development.
• Develop outcome and competency assessment tools for DUDSM Program clinical initiatives to evaluate patient outcomes, impact of clinical interventions, effectiveness of education programs, and prescriber compliance.
• Participate in discussion of medical literature review for evaluation of place in therapy for new drugs or disease management concepts, identification of new opportunities, and for reviewing implemented initiatives for current content.
• Participate actively in monitoring of patient pharmacotherapy and disease state by evaluating patient problems, identifying opportunities for therapy optimization, discussing therapeutic options for care, determining options for drug therapy management, and assessing patient outcomes.
• Utilize clinical information systems gather background patient information for evaluation of pharmacotherapy and disease process to determine potential interventions in care and/or evaluate initiative impact over time.
• Work collaboratively with team members, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, clinical pharmacy specialists, and other health care team members to evaluate activities and implement initiative ideas.