Inpatient and Outpatient Pharmacy Technician Department of Veteran Affairs

Join our growing team at the New Mexico VA Hospital Pharmacy:

Skills/Experience:

Key Responsibilities: 

General Duties: 

• Medication Preparation & Dispensing: Accurately prepare, package, label, and dispense prescription medications, including sterile compounded products and bulk prescriptions. Ensure the correct dosage, drug, and supplies are provided. 

• Inventory Management: Maintain accurate inventories, rotate stock, check expiration dates, and replenish medications as needed. Ensure all medications are stored according to required standards. 

• Pharmacy Automation Operations: Operate pharmacy automation systems including Med Carousel, ScriptPro, Omnicell, and Pick Point. Perform preventative maintenance, including cleaning and making minor equipment adjustments. 

• Patient & Staff Communication: Answer telephone calls from patients and healthcare professionals, respond to medication inquiries, and document interactions in the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS). Provide accurate information to patients and staff regarding prescriptions, including handling expired, deleted, or unavailable drugs. 

• Compliance & Documentation: Maintain proper documentation for all prescriptions, including original prescriptions, patient profiles, and related records in accordance with federal regulations and VA policies. Ensure the safe handling of hazardous materials and waste. 

• Prescription Processing: Process refill requests, create prescription labels, and manage medication orders for travel and delivery to Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) or other VA facilities. 

• Clinical Support: Support pharmacists in verifying and processing medication orders, managing drug supply replenishment, and preparing medication for bubble packing for long-term care facilities. 

• Inspection & Quality Control: Perform inspections of assigned areas (e.g., outpatient clinics, emergency rooms, inpatient pharmacy) to ensure proper stock rotation, expiration date checks, and proper medication handling. Quarantine expired medications and document actions taken. 

• Patient Safety: Verify patient identity using two identifiers, ensuring patient confidentiality and safety in all interactions and dispensing practices. 

Outpatient Pharmacy Duties: 

• Assemble prescriptions with the correct drug, strength, quantity, auxiliary labels, and prescription labels for window dispensing and mail delivery. 

• Ensure that the correct medication is filled by using barcode scanning on stock bottles. 

• Manually complete prescriptions that are not processed through the automation dispensing machine. 

• Verify the patient's identification according to the Medical Center's policies (i.e., double patient identifiers). 

• Utilize VA software programs to check narratives and resolve delivery issues for patients with no physical address. 

• Assist the Hometown Pharmacist with CMOP reject reports and reprint or re-submit labels to CMOP once stock availability is confirmed. 

• Monitor MEDS ON ADMISSION and DISCHARGE MEDICATIONS. If the patient is still in the hospital or has been released, arrange for medications to be mailed or destroyed based on CPRS notes and guidance from a pharmacist. 

Inpatient Pharmacy Duties: 

• Sterile Product Compounding: Follow USP 797/800 guidelines for compounding all sterile preparations, including ophthalmic, cardioplegic, TPN, hazardous, and IV solutions (large and small volumes). Manufacture uncomplicated and/or complicated parenteral admixtures for delivery in forms such as infusion syringes or other required formats. 

• Interpretation & Preparation: Correctly interpret physician orders, select and measure appropriate ingredients, mix ingredients safely and effectively, inspect the final product for accuracy, and label the product. Maintain records of the manufacturing process and supply the product for pharmacist verification. 

• Aseptic Technique & Quality Assurance: Follow proper aseptic preparation techniques when compounding sterile products and consistently demonstrate competence with good manufacturing practices. 

• Review & Verification: Perform a review of medications prepared by another pharmacy employee to be dispensed to hospital areas. 

• Emergency Trays & Replenishment: Inventory and replenish emergency trays as needed. Operate and maintain automated dispensing unit dose systems. 

• Packaging & Labeling: Inspect packaged items for accuracy and suitability before submitting for final pharmacist check. Ensure repackaged dosage forms are labeled according to USP and VA standards. 

• Equipment Troubleshooting: Troubleshoot minor mechanical issues with automated systems and coordinate the resolution of more complex problems with the Supervisor, vendor help desk, or ADPAC. 

• Inventory Management: Communicate with procurement and Pharmacy Benefits Management (PBM) to address inventory needs and resolve medication shortages. 

• Prescription Interpretation & Preparation: Accurately interpret prescriptions and prepare medications for pharmacist verification. 

Required Skills:

• Contractors pharmacy techs shall be technically proficient in the skills necessary to fulfill the governments requirements, including the ability to speak, understand, read and write English fluently as required by 38 U.S.C. 7402(d), and 7407(d). Contractor shall provide documents upon request of the CO/COR to verify current and ongoing competency, refuse skills, certification and/or licensure related to the provision of care, treatment and/or services performed. Contractor shall provide verifiable evidence of all educational and training experiences including any gaps in educational history for all contractors pharmacist and contractors pharmacist shall be responsible for abiding by the Facility's Medical Staff By-Laws, rules, and regulations (referenced herein) that govern medical staff behavior.

Desired Skills:

• Must be able to demonstrate positive interpersonal skills in interactions with providers, patients, other Medical Center employees and fellow pharmacy staff members to create an atmosphere of caring, helpfulness and cooperation.

Degree Requirements:

Qualifications: 

• Certified by the National Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) 

• Minimum 1 year of experience in a hospital pharmacy setting, with a focus on sterile IV compounding 

• Graduation from an Academic Pharmacy Technician Training Program 

• High school diploma or GED 

• Basic mathematical, typing, and computer skills 

• Ability to stand or sit for long periods of time (8-10 hours), stoop, reach, and perform repetitive motions 

• Fluency in English (reading, writing, speaking) 

• Experience with pharmacy automation equipment (e.g., Med Carousel, Omnicell) is preferred 

• Knowledge of hazardous materials handling and safety protocols 

• Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to work effectively with internal and external customers 

• Ability to follow instructions and work under supervision in a dynamic healthcare environment 

Physical Requirements: 

• Ability to stand, sit, stoop, and perform repetitive motions for extended periods. 

• Ability to lift, carry, and move light to moderate objects as required for inventory management and medication handling. 

Certification Requirements:

• Certified by the National Pharmacy Technician Certification Board (PTCB) 

Company information:

Dynamic Planning & Response LLC

www.dynapnr.com

We do not provide a relocation package.

We provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, we comply with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.

Salary : $26