Pharmacy Technician; Procurement​/Inventory

Position: Pharmacy Technician (Procurement/Inventory)
The certified Procurement Pharmacy Technician is responsible for all prescription and nonprescription medications and supply purchasing and inventory in a highly complex area of Pharmacy Service at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System. This responsibility mandates compliance with all Veterans Health Administration, Drug Enforcement Agency, Food and Drug Agency and all federal rules and regulations regarding contract compliance, and purchase card policies and procedures.

Primary duties consist of pharmaceutical and supply order initiation, proper receipt of shipments, compliance with product and storage requirements. Incumbent has independent purchase responsibilities. The incumbent functions as staffing requirements dictate assisting the pharmacy management team in providing optimal pharmaceutical care and timely customer service in accordance with the mission, vision and goals of the Pharmacy and the Medical Center.

Pharmacy technicians at this level serve as an ordering officer delegated by the national acquisition center contracting officer for the purpose of ordering against the national pharmacy prime vendor (PPV) contract and national blanket purchase agreements (BPA) for pharmacy. They are responsible for ordering medications and supplies from required sources and meeting contract compliance while maintaining multiple complex accounts with the PPV.

They utilize the Government purchase card program for direct orders up to the micro purchase threshold per VA financial policy. Pharmacy technicians at this level are responsible for regulatory and formulary requirements to meet patient needs within budgetary limits. This position requires significant independent decision making and utilizing technical judgement with minimal supervision. The incumbent will review or prepare documents and reports regarding procurement, inventory, reverse distributor, Government Purchase Card Audits and recall issues.

The incumbent's work is complex, involves problem solving and providing timely and accurate drug availability and medication shortage data.

FUNCTIONS OR SCOPE OF ASSIGNED DUTIES:

The duties and responsibilities of the Procurement Pharmacy Technician include but are not limited to the following:

* Serve as ordering officer for pharmacy service, delegated by the VA National Acquisition Center (NAC) while maintaining annual training requirements.

* Initiates ordering requirements of pharmaceuticals, specialty, and supply items through pharmacy prime vendors multi complex accounts or other mandatory sources. Responsible for adherence to federal contracts and compliance with federal regulations regarding open market, ensuring inventory control through perpetual evaluation.

* Assists in determining ordering intervals and stock levels appropriate to meet changes in formulary, brand to AB rated generic drugs, contract changes, conversions, new drug indications including backorders and seasonal changes.

* Procures all types of pharmaceuticals including controlled and non-controlled drugs within established VA ordering guidelines, policies, and procedures within inventory management specialized area with the understanding of proper budget utilization.

* Purchases using National contracts (NAT), Federal supply schedules (FSS), Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) and open market etc. to ensure compliance with federal acquisition regulations, and policy, understanding the contracting hierarchy of all purchases.

* Incumbent will download invoices daily as part of the drug accountability process or other inventory management system.

* Incumbent may be required to obtain necessary certification to order narcotic medications through pharmacy prime vendor.

* Purchases using government issued credit cards for micro purchase limits with understanding of when to use; while maintaining required proper documentation, and reconciliation of receipt of all orders for auditing and accountability purposes, training, etc.

* Reconciles all credit card purchases in a timely manner.

* Possesses technical knowledge of VA and regulatory agency requirements for drug storage and special requirements for procurement, storage, distribution, and handling of various hazardous and non-hazardous drug classes.

* Maintains knowledge of principles, policies and state and federal laws and regulations related to controlled substances.

* Utilizes proper inventory management to ensure sufficient stock of medications and supply are available to meet the needs of the pharmacy and patient care.

* Removes expired medications from stock and processes them for safe removal, according to VHA Directives and standard operating procedures.

* Maintains a clean working environment and updates shelf labels as contracts dictate.

* Enters pharmacy procurement requests and documents as required. Enters data for all orders in the appropriate record. This includes information from initial procurement requests, fund control data, receiving reports, B09 reports, etc. Reconciles accounts and…