Pharmacy Technician

The Pharmacy Technician is responsible for the receiving, assessing for appropriateness, and processing of all Non-VA Care prescriptions for the approval by the Non-VA Care Clinical Pharmacist or other Clinical Pharmacist designee. The Pharmacy Technician assists the Non-VA Care Clinical Pharmacist in all daily tasks concerning Non-VA prescribed prescriptions.

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

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Major duties include but are not limited to:

• Provides Community (Non-VA) Care prescription service support.
• Receives, reviews and triages faxed, mailed, electronically prescribed, or delivered prescriptions written by Non-VA providers and documents all received prescriptions in CPRS, as necessary.
• Reviews appropriate third-party contractors (e.g., Optum) authorization portal and CPRS to determine authorization of Non-VA Care by the Salisbury VA Healthcare System (VAHCS)
• Communicates with patients concerning prescriptions received from unauthorized provider visits and handles prescriptions appropriately.
• Reviews authorized prescriptions for appropriateness using clinical pharmacy technician knowledge, as well comprehensive knowledge of the formulary process and knowledge concerning the national drug formulary and local VA formulary requirements.
• Communicates with Non-VA physicians and nurses to request clarification of prescriptions.
• Documents all communication with Non-VA providers in CPRS using the appropriate note titles.
• Initiates the non-formulary/prior authorization process with the Non-VA provider and records needed documentation in CPRS and workflow file.
• Maintains a comprehensive knowledge of controlled substance directives, policies and procedures, national, state, and local laws.
• Ability to identify and investigate discrepancies in these policies and procedures.
• Reviews the North Carolina Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) website to ensure appropriateness of received prescription, determine exact due date of medication, and prevent duplicate and overprescribing of controlled substances and document in CPRS.
• Files all Non-VA Care prescriptions according to VA and DEA Policy.
• Answers the Non-VA Care Pharmacy line and handles all phone calls not requiring a pharmacist

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday; 8:00am-4:30pm
Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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).
Grade Determinations: Pharmacy Technician, GS-08
Experience: One year of experience equivalent to the next lower 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:
(a) PTCB as a CPhT. OR
(b) NHA as a ExCPT.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs 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.

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).

Preferred Experience: Care in the Community formulary management and prescription processing Experience.


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: Must be physically and mentally able to perform efficiently the duties of the position

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/.

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