Edward Tsao
Camdenton,MO
Summary
Insightful, dedicated and proactive multi-state license clinical pharmacist with 25+ years of experience in diverse and demanding clinical healthcare settings. Offers extensive and proven PharmD-equivalent skills in pharmacovigilance, pharmacokinetics, patient/staff education, disease state management and drug utilization reviews, with expertise in critical/acute care and Code Blue/Trauma alert responses. Empathetic patient counselor and healthcare team liaison with deep product knowledge, and a genuine passion for the multi-faceted aspects of impactful pharmacy care. Works exceptionally well in situations requiring high levels of accountability, sensitivity, and proficiency.
Overview
15
15
years of professional experience
Work History
Midnight Clinical Pharmacist
Lake Regional Hospital
06.2025 - Current
- 121 bed Level 2 Stroke, Level 3 Trauma Hospital
- Entering, verifying, dispensing, and ensuring correct dosages to prevent adverse effects using patient parameters in Meditech Expanse.
- Education and training of Pharmacy staff, Nurses, and Physicians with current treatment options. Sharing online medical references with physicians.
- Collaborating with physicians on treatment plans, developing guidelines, and monitoring therapy.
- Suggested methods to improve existing processes based on past experiences with different hospital systems.
- Clinical responsibilities: renal dosing including age- and weight-based, warfarin dosing, and pharmacokinetic dosing of gentamicin/tobramycin and AUC dosing for vancomycin using VancoPk software
- Management of Pharmacy stock using Cerner MCARs integrated with Pyxis for secure medication distribution. Nightly stock counts using MCARs to maintain proper quantities.
- Filling and delivering Pyxis and controlled substance stockouts and anticipating extra use in ER.
- Preparation of IV admixtures for ER and new admissions.
- Handed off information to the next shift on Pharmacy stock issues that may involve patient care.
Midnight Clinical Pharmacist
Soliant Health/Tenet - Saint Joseph’s Hospital
12.2023 - 02.2025
- 486 bed short term acute care Level 1 Trauma hospital.
- Reviewed and assessed medication orders using Cerner Millennium to identify, prevent, and resolve potential and actual drug related problems.
- Recommended formulary alternatives to non-formulary or restricted medications to resident physicians. Provided drug information and education to medical staff and patients.
- Performed the final check prior to dispensing of all medications, including sterile products, chemotherapy, TPN's, floor stock, and controlled substances using Omnicell.
- Performed and documented clinical activities and interventions accurately.
- Supervised and directed pharmacy support personnel to provide timely, comprehensive, and cost-effective pharmaceutical services.
- Assisted in training new personnel.
- Responded to code blue and trauma alerts when staffing was available.
Pharmacy Manager
Northern Cochise Community Hospital
07.2023 - 11.2023
- 24 bed critical access hospital responsible for leading the daily and administrative functions of pharmacy services, programs, and Personnel. Areas of focus included ambulatory, inpatient or specialty areas and programs. Provided direction and leadership to ensure the Pharmacy delivers great patient care and improved population health within an efficient cost structure while improving the work life of staff.
- Principle responsibilities include daily operations, management of staff and resources, project management, quality improvement, budgeting, maintaining compliance with all policies, procedures, accreditation requirements and regulations, medical safety, teaching, and scholarship in associated areas of responsibility.
- Facilitated communication, coordination, and collaboration among disciplines regarding identification, planning, and provision of high-quality cost-effective care.
Pharmacist
Walgreens Micro Fulfillment Center
04.2023 - 06.2023
- Responsible for acting as the frontline leader for centralized services team members to ensure they provide a first-class experience to Walgreens patients and customers.
- Served as an escalation point of contact for complex or critical issues.
- Assigned, monitored, and reviewed the day-to-day work of the appropriate party.
- Resolved and/or provided technical advice on complex or critical issues that have been escalated from Senior level roles.
- Served as a resource for all representatives.
- Maintained records of customer and/or client interactions, record details, complaints, comments, and action taken.
- Responded to escalated inquiries or notified them of investigation results and planned adjustments.
- Continued to look for ways to improve current processes with enhancements and ideas.
- Monitored team member performance by observing employee demeanor, technical accuracy, and conformity to company policies.
- Improved the performance of the department by building team morale, motivating team members, and providing constructive coaching.
- Identified the areas where additional development is needed and made recommendations on how to achieve necessary results.
- Responsible for ensuring compliance with federal, state, and local laws, as well as company and facility policies and procedures.
- Maintained standards of performance in accordance with policies and procedures (e.g., HIPAA guidelines/regulations, insurance, and fraud abuse guidelines, required productivity levels, timeliness expectations, etc.).
Staff Pharmacist
CVS Pharmacy
07.2022 - 02.2023
- Managing customer interactions in the Pharmacy; including patient counseling, complaint resolution, Quality assurance management and adherence to practices which promote customer satisfaction.
- Assisted in and made recommendations concerning the selection, training, scheduling, development and performance of Pharmacy department personnel. Vaccine administration.
- Use of RxConnect and EPIC to obtain patient and drug information, process, and verify prescriptions, use of available pharmacy references to counsel patients regarding proper use of medication.
- Managing customer interactions in the Pharmacy; including patient counseling, complaint resolution, Quality assurance management and adherence to practices which promote customer satisfaction.
- Assisted in and made recommendations concerning the selection, training, scheduling, development and performance of Pharmacy department personnel. Vaccine administration.
- Use of RxConnect and EPIC to obtain patient and drug information, process, and verify prescriptions, use of available pharmacy references to counsel patients regarding proper use of medication.
Clinical Pharmacist
Carson Tahoe Health
12.2018 - 07.2022
- 240 bed community hospital with off-site links to behavioral health services, long term acute, outpatient infusion services, surgical care, and Cancer center.
- CPOE data entry using SMS and EPIC. Pharmacokinetic dosing of aminoglycosides and vancomycin. Renal and warfarin dosing. TPN ordering based on patient labs.
- Formulary substitutions. Attended Code Blue alerts. ICU rounding. Antibiotic stewardship rounds with infectious disease service.
- Checking of Pyxis floor stock refills, IV batches using Pharmacy Keeper and Dispense Prep.
Clinical Staff Pharmacist
Bothwell Regional Health Center
04.2017 - 11.2018
- Serving as a clinical pharmacist and de facto lead pharmacist, providing pharmacy support that includes evaluating order/entry verification, appropriate med time administration, liaising with physicians and nursing staff, vancomycin and aminoglycoside dosing, crash cart inspections, sterile product final verification, monitoring for appropriate renal dosing, IV to PO conversion and performing DUR reviews to prevent therapeutic duplication as well as serving as a drug information resource to healthcare personnel
- Utilizes strong clinic acumen to make evidence-based medicine recommendations; Researched and recommended the switching to a safer antiemetic medication alternative for Labor and Delivery patients to the Pharmacy & Therapeutics committee based on change in Pregnancy risk category.
- Proactively champions positive outcomes for geriatric patients; provided an intervention for twice daily Lasix to be dosed at earlier times in the day that would greatly reduce fall risk to elderly hospitalized patients.
- Deeply knowledgeable in the field of Pharmacy Informatics; played a key role in the building of the Pharmacy dictionary for Meditech 6.1 upgrade.
- Conceptualized and developed a quarterly pharmacy newsletter to provide medical news; help other pharmacy personnel stay abreast of the drug shortages and convey the Director of Pharmacy's perspective and pharmacy updates.
- Innovative and visionary pharmacist that serves as a go to point resource for discussing and developing new ideas to help expand on current pharmacy practice.
Clinical Pharmacist
Saint Alexius Hospital
12.2010 - 03.2017
- 120-bed general med-surg hospital, also offering specialized psychiatric care and an 8-bed ICU. Partners of St. Louis University and Sisters of Saint Mary for their physician residency program. St. Alexius' bariatric program, New-Start, is one of the largest in the Midwest.
- Servicing as an integral part of a first-line multidisciplinary team, provides comprehensive pharmaceutical support across drug utilization reviews, pharmacokinetic consults, inventory turns, CII management, nursing unit and crash cart inspections, and the dose/frequency/route verification and processing of all RX orders via Paragon, including narrow range therapeutics and IV/compounded medications.
- Supervises outpatient/ambulatory TPN, warfarin, vancomycin and aminoglycoside therapies, and provides DURs/evaluations, dosing instructions and clinical support for the nursing staff for pain management, behavioral/antipsychotic medications, and sterile intravenous products.
- Displays exceptional multi-tasking skills in a culture that expects error free results, and interacts extensively with physicians and nursing staff to ensure 100% accuracy and efficacy across all medications.
- Provides meticulous MTM and DUR discharge services to elderly patients who are often nervous about their medication regimens; explains all dosage techniques and potential side effects with care and patience, and is always available for follow-up questions and answers.
- PALS, MTS and ACLS certified; participates in frequent Code Blue, Fall and Stroke alerts, maintains all floor stock refills via Pyxis, compiles accurate and timely monthly patient indication reports, and biweekly narcotic counts.
- Supports positive outcomes for medically complex patients; consistently champions the common goal of achieving individualized, functional healthcare goals in the most cost-effective manner possible.
- Counsels patients extensively regarding the safe and effective use of narcotics, anti- psychotics, antidepressants, anti-anxiety, Alzheimer's and dementia medications, and the critical importance of consistent adherence to their drug schedules.
- Actively supervises and trains technicians and pharmacy students regarding complex tasks; ensures the accurate verification and formulation of all Rx orders, in addition to monitoring overall workflow.
Education
Bachelor of Science Pharmacy - undefined
Saint Louis College of Pharmacy
Saint Louis, Missouri05.1988
Skills
- High Volume Clinical Pharmacy Services
- DURs & Disease State Management
- Pharmacokinetic & Pharmacotherapy
- Patient Counseling & Education
- Acute Care, Specialty Acute Care, Specialty & Outpatient Pharmacy
- Sterile Compounding & IV Admixtures
- Expert Healthcare Team Resource
- Staff Supervision, Training & Leadership
Activities
Literature Environmental conservation Art Yoga Skiing Travel
Timeline
Midnight Clinical Pharmacist
Lake Regional Hospital
06.2025 - Current
Midnight Clinical Pharmacist
Soliant Health/Tenet - Saint Joseph’s Hospital
12.2023 - 02.2025
Pharmacy Manager
Northern Cochise Community Hospital
07.2023 - 11.2023
Pharmacist
Walgreens Micro Fulfillment Center
04.2023 - 06.2023
Staff Pharmacist
CVS Pharmacy
07.2022 - 02.2023
Clinical Pharmacist
Carson Tahoe Health
12.2018 - 07.2022
Clinical Staff Pharmacist
Bothwell Regional Health Center
04.2017 - 11.2018
Clinical Pharmacist
Saint Alexius Hospital
12.2010 - 03.2017
Bachelor of Science Pharmacy - undefined
Saint Louis College of Pharmacy