Transitions of Care Clinical Specialist Lead Pharmacist

Scope of Position

Under the direction of the Assistant or Associate Director of Pharmacy, the Specialty Practice Lead provides programmatic oversight for system-wide Transitions of Care (TOC). This position leads and manages programs related to TOC to and from the acute care setting for the OSUWMC health-system. In this role, the Specialty Practice Lead maintains functional expertise and provides patient care, participates in appropriate hospital and/or departmental committees across the enterprise, and leads strategic implementation and oversight of TOC programs. This position will promote and implement quality and process improvement initiatives, collaborate with medication safety to identify system improvements, and utilize metrics to demonstrate value and expand the reach of the TOC program. This position oversees workflows for the TOC pharmacy technicians and assists with resource allocation and scheduling. This position will also serve as the primary point of contact for the college of pharmacy to oversee and coordinate the pharmacy student and faculty involvement in TOC at OSUWMC.

Position Summary

The Specialty Practice Lead Pharmacist assists with the planning, organization, and evaluation of acute care TOC services provided by Department of Pharmacy. Under the guidance of the Assistant or Associate Director, the Lead assists in overseeing, guiding, coaching, and evaluating the work performance of the TOC pharmacy technicians and other pharmacy extenders. This position facilitates the maintenance of the existing TOC program through use of TOC dashboard metrics to drive expansion and reach of pharmacy services. Other key functions include leading quality and process improvement projects, collaborating with providers, nurses, and staff across the system to optimize medication transitions of care, and implementation of discharge medication reconciliation.

This position can be further summarized as follows:

• Provides direct patient care as required

• Participate in appropriate hospital and/or departmental committees

• Identifies and resolves service problems

• Conducts research in pharmacy practice

• Assists with the financial management and budgeting of the TOC service line

• Participates in developing and implementing the department strategic plan related to acute care TOC services, quality, and safety

• Participates and leads the implementation of new technology to improve services, patient care, patient safety, and educational opportunities for staff and students

• Identifies, implements, and monitors services within area of scope that guide and support the provision of high-quality cost-effective pharmaceutical care

• Identifies and monitors service-related metrics. Works with pharmacy informatics to develop, implement, and maintain a dashboard for tracking and measuring TOC outcomes

• Ensures compliance with regulatory and accreditation agencies for areas of oversight. Coordinates policy review and educational updates to meet regulatory quality standards

• Works collaboratively with OSUWMC Outpatient Pharmacy to expand bedside delivery of medications

• Collaborates/interfaces with organizational, medical, and nursing staff to execute quality improvement initiatives

• Develops, implements, and maintains a process for discharge medication reconciliation and discharge counseling at the institution

• Promotes and participates in various task forces related to transitions of care for the hospital at large

• Coordinates with the College of Pharmacy Medication Reconciliation program to provide support and aid in expansion

• Supports oversight, hiring, orientation and evaluation of TOC pharmacy technicians, pharmacists, and TOC pharmacy technician managers