Women's College Hospital (WCH) is an academic, ambulatory care hospital in Ontario with a focus on health for women, health equity and health system solutions. If you're ready to be part of a team that is revolutionizing the future of healthcare, then you will want to join an institution where the possibilities for innovation, new discovery and system thinking are limitless. Women's College Hospital is committed to equity, quality and patient safety as key professional values and essential components of daily practice.
Healthcare Revolutionized 2030 is our roadmap to the future. Our strategy is built on the pledge that the founders of our hospital made 140 years ago and reaffirms our commitment to providing equitable, accessible, best-in-class healthcare for everyone – meeting people where they are on their healthcare journey and partnering with them to reach their goals of living their healthiest lives possible. The stage has been set for Women’s to accelerate our priorities and capture the momentum to catapult our system forward to revolutionize healthcare for everyone.
Applicants must reside and be legally eligible to work in Ontario.
Type: Replacement
The Regular Full-Time,Pharmacy Clinical Informatics Specialist is an exciting joint role that will allow for a mix between pharmacy informatics and clinical practice. This individual is the primary point contact for the Willow Inpatient and Willow Inventory applications and serves as a bridge between end users and the technical team. Additionally, a proportion of their time will be allocated to developing and maintaining a clinical, ambulatory care practice in a designated area. In this role, the Pharmacy Clinical Informatics Specialist is required to gain an in-depth knowledge of the assigned application and is responsible for developing specifications for how the application should be configured to support organizational workflows, while providing ongoing application support to maintain and optimize the application. This individual must develop an in-depth understanding of related organizational policies, procedures, and business operations and will report to the Manager of Pharmacy Services.
Summary Of Duties, But Not Limited To
Clinical Informatics
- Provide Pharmacy subject matter expertise leveraging clinical knowledge in creation and implementation of therapy plans, order sets, SmartTools, and drug formulary maintenance
- Utilize Pharmacist experience and knowledge of current practice to provide clinical validation of quarterly FDB medication loads to ensure Canadian healthcare context and access to current medications and best practice alerts
- Triage and manage the risks associated with each upgrade, patient safety escalation, care concern, or technical note and work with project teams to mitigate all identified risks
- Configure medication records to optimize user experience and improve patient safety (e.g. suggested doses, dose limits)
- Work with clinicians (physicians, nurses, etc) and leadership to assess medication incidents and suggest application improvements as necessary
- Coordinate, manage, perform and sign-off all testing activities to ensure they meet requirements of the hospital, end users, and regulatory and patient safety organizations (such as the Ontario College of Pharmacists or ISMP)
- Identify how the applications can support best practices recommended by guidelines, best practice statements, etc. (e.g. opioid stewardship, antimicrobial stewardship), utilizing clinical Pharmacy expertise
- Manage the Pharmacy Services webpage on hospital Intranet
- Collaborate with the Clinical Applications team on projects, support, and maintenance, providing expertise as a Clinical Pharmacist and Willow Inpatient/ Willow Inventory specialist
- Collaborate on evidence-based research projects, providing expertise as a Willow Inpatient/Willow Inventory specialist and ensuring workflows and build align with organizational SOPs
- Other informatics duties as required by department and requested by pharmacy manager in collaboration with clinical applications manager
Workflow Analysis and Application Maintenance and Support
- Develop and maintain an in-depth understanding of Willow Inpatient and Willow Inventory applications through continuing education opportunities
- Work with end users to understand, document and analyze workflows relevant to Willow Inpatient and Willow Inventory application. This includes build for menus, navigators, sections, flowsheets, etc.
- Ensure the assigned application aligns with WCH policy and supports safe medication practice
- Coordinate resolution of application issues related to configuration using appropriate escalation paths
- Work with various departments to understand points of integration (e.g. accounting, health records, etc.)
- Work with Credentialed Trainers and Instructional Designers to support development of training and change management plan and materials
- Provide training to pharmacy users during onboarding, upgrades, and new feature implementation
- Support full system testing and provide post-implementation support for users and trainers
- Develop and write test plans with expected results for detailed standalone and integrated
- Develop and document internal procedures related to assigned application
- Performs system maintenance as required
- Triage and respond to end user tickets
- Perform regular maintenance including FDB medication loads, annual purchase contract imports, and bi-annual pharmacy imports. Collaborate with vendors and interest holders throughout this process.
- Perform regular system upgrades including review, build, testing, and development of training plans for both Willow Inpatient and Willow Inventory modules.
Patient Care
- Collaborate with team and patients to develop, prioritize, implement, monitor and assess comprehensive pharmaceutical care plans
- Perform medication reconciliation in a variety of practice settings
- Provide direct patient care through education and communication of vital drug information/monitoring parameters
- Determine appropriate therapeutic options to resolve or prevent drug-related problems
- Perform pharmacokinetic consultations, therapeutic interventions, and adverse drug reaction reporting as required
- Contribute to the development of chronic disease management models/protocols
Education
- Educate and update team members with respect to most current drug-related guidelines and evidence-based research
- Participate in structured or informal teaching of pharmacy residents and students, medical residents, clerks and other learners
- Participate in pharmacy education rounds as opportunities arise (e.g. journal clubs)
Drug Distribution
- Accurately interpret physician’s orders as written and perform final product check prior to dispensing as required
- Assess clinical appropriateness of physicians’ orders and facilitate changes if necessary
- Monitor all patient profiles for drug indication, effectiveness, safety and cost compliance parameters upon order entry and follow up
- Participate in on call responsibilities
Professional Responsibilities
- Attend regular project status meetings as required
- Participate in WCH committees and departmental committees as required
- Participate in accreditation and quality related work
- As a role model and champion you will work to identify and integrate safe, best practices into daily activities to foster the delivery of safe and exemplary care
The responsibilities described above are representative and are not to be construed as all-inclusive. You may be given additional responsibilities based on the discretion of your manager.
Qualifications
- Current registration with the Ontario College of Pharmacists is required with Part A licensure required
- Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD), Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy degree or equivalent required
- Completion of Pharmacy Practice Residency Program an asset
- Completion of Willow Inpatient and/or Willow Inventory training an asset
- One year of work experience in ambulatory care is preferred
- Current membership in one or more professional association (i.e. Ontario Pharmacists Association, Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists, Canadian Pharmacists Association) is considered an asset
- Excellent clinical skills and expert knowledge of pharmacotherapy
- A clear understanding of their professional scope of practice
- Proficiency in MS Office, MS Visio, and MS Project
- Strong ability with system analysis and design
- The ability to prioritize, manage time effectively and be flexible in a very active work environment
- Excellent decision making, problem recognition and problem solving skills
- Strong organizational skills and the ability to oversee several projects with competing priorities
- Strong ability to produce high quality reports and meet deadlines
- Ability to travel to the United States to complete training
- Expertise in developing and maintaining excellent working relationships with all members of the health care team and partner organizations
- A strong commitment to team-based patient and family-centered care
- Demonstrated commitment to professional growth and development
- Demonstrated satisfactory work performance and attendance record
- Experience mentoring both formally and informally with demonstrated leadership skills
- Professional behavior and communication that meets the standards of the professional regulatory college or association, as applicable, and the standards of Women’s College Hospital
This position plays a critical role in acting as an advocate for safety and will demonstrate principles, practices and processes that will optimize a safe environment for all
Why Choose Us?
- Be part of a dedicated team committed to excellence.
- Shape the future of healthcare in a supportive environment.
- Enjoy competitive benefits and an excellent defined benefit pension plan (HOOPP).
Women’s College Hospital may use artificial intelligence (AI) or automated decision-making tools during various points in the recruitment and selection processes. Please note that third-party job boards may apply their own automated features when displaying or promoting this posting. Women’s College Hospital has no control over these external platform tools.
If you suspect any recruitment related advertising, communication or content did not originate from Women’s College Hospital, please report it immediately by providing the relevant details to WCH Job Advertisement Fraud Reporting Form.
Employment at Women’s College Hospital is conditional upon the verification of credentials, completion of a health review, and proof of immunity and vaccination status for vaccine-preventable diseases, in alignment with WCH Communicable Disease Surveillance protocols. Successful candidates will be required to complete the Employee, Physician and Volunteer Immunization Record Submission Form and the Pre-Placement Health ReviewForm prior to commencing employment. Submission instructions will be provided in the new hire package and all requirements must be satisfied prior to commencing employment.
Women's College Hospital is a fully affiliated teaching hospital of the University of Toronto and is committed to fairness and equity in employment and our recruitment and selection practices. We encourage applications from Indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, members of sexual minority groups, members of racialized groups, women and any others who may contribute to the further diversification of our Hospital community. Accommodation will be provided in all parts of the hiring process as required under our Access for People with Disabilities policy. Applicants need to make their requirements known in advance.
