Rahim Merchant, PharmD, CPHIMS

Rahim Merchant, PharmD, CPHIMS

Manager of Pharmacy Informatics

OhioHealth Pharmacy Services

Background

Rahim Merchant is a residency-trained pharmacist specializing in healthcare informatics. He leads a team of informatics pharmacists and analysts in supporting clinical applications, pharmacy automation, and data analytics at OhioHealth. Rahim also serves as a preceptor to pharmacy students and residents, and additionally, supports directly supports a variety of high-impact healthcare-IT changes throughout the organization. Current projects include deployment of deployment of automated dispensing cabinet (ADC) and central pharmacy automation systems, implementation of pharmacy inventory and compliance workflows, and integration of new care site EHR systems.

With a robust background in both clinical pharmacy practice and data analytics, Rahim has been successful in “bridging the gap” between clinicians and IT staff. Clinical interests include cardiology and infectious disease. Technical skills include SQL scripting, Epic Willow Inpatient build, Business Intelligence dashboard development (QlikSense), and use of Python for complex data manipulation.

Interests

  • Healthcare Analytics
  • Clinical Decision Support
  • Information Security

Education

  • Doctorate of Pharmacy, 2015

    University of Michigan College of Pharmacy

  • Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology, 2011

    University of Michigan

Skills

Epic Willow Inpatient Build

SQL

Python

Analytics and Business Intelligence

Version Control

Project Management

Experience

 
 
 
 
 

Manager of Pharmacy Informatics

OhioHealth

Feb 2022 – Present Ohio, USA

Leader of a dynamic and talent cohort of informatics pharmacists and data analysts.

Achievements and Responsibilities:

  • Led a team of pharmacists and technicians in implementing 700 automated dispensing cabinets and an associated inventory management system across >20 care sites
  • Upskilled multiple team members in learning SQL and achieving an EHR reporting credential (Epic Clarity Certification)
  • Supported informatics analyst team in developing and validating clinical data for use by 22 pharmacy resident research projects
  • Transitioned informatics team away from a generalist, site-based support model to a specialty model; informaticists specialize in specific areas of expertise and provide system-wide support in those areas
  • Organizer and leader of a recurring informatics collaboration consisting of 9 health systems across the nation with a goal of sharing knowledge and best practices around pharmacy automation and technology
 
 
 
 
 

Interim Manager of Pharmacy Informatics

OhioHealth

Nov 2021 – Feb 2022 Ohio, USA

Led a team of pharmacists and data analysts through a period of transition.

Achievements and Responsibilities:

  • Created financial justification for remote order verification positions, leading to successful approval and hiring of two net-new pharmacist FTEs
  • Revised the automated dispensing cabinets (ADCs) access provisioning process, reducing account access issues for nursing and pharmacy staff
 
 
 
 
 

Clinical Pharmacist Informaticist

OhioHealth

Aug 2017 – Nov 2021 Ohio, USA

Facilitator and liaison between clinical and IT staff with roles in analytics, change management, go-live support, and clinical workflow process optimization

Achievements and Responsibilities:

  • Developed and operationalized executive-level drug shortage analytics, medication utilization dashboards, and perpetual inventory reporting
  • Spearheaded the pharmacy informatics implementation team for an Epic EHR go-live at a regional OhioHealth campus
  • Lead for several system-level informatics governance and change management workgroups
 
 
 
 
 

Pharmacy Informatics Resident (PGY2)

Aurora Health Care (AHC)

Jul 2016 – Jun 2017 Wisconsin, USA

Pharmacy Informatics Resident supporting pharmacy clinical applications within Aurora Health Care, a 15-hospital health system.

Achievements and Responsibilities:

  • Supported optimization and maintenance of AHC clinical information systems, including software/hardware from Epic and BD/Pyxis.
  • Fulfilled reporting needs by writing and deploying SQL scripts and Crystal reports to Aurora production reporting servers (SAP BOE)
  • Provided in-person and remote support during go-lives
 
 
 
 
 

Pharmacy Practice Resident (PGY1)

Aurora St. Luke’s Hospital

Jul 2015 – Jun 2016 Wisconsin, USA

Inpatient Clinical Pharmacy Practice Resident at Aurora St. Luke’s Hospital, a 1,200-bed teaching hospital specializing in cardiac, neurological, and transplant care.

Achievements and Responsibilities:

  • Provided pharmaceutical care to patients within Aurora Health Care (AHC)
  • Created and presented clinical education to nursing and pharmacy staff
  • Designed and implemented a sustainable process for reducing alert fatigue among AHC clinicians

Certifications

Pharmacy Informatics Certificate

American Society of Health-System Pharmacists May 2018
Professional Certification in Pharmacy Informatics

Willow Inpatient Builder Certification

Epic Systems Corporation Nov 2016
Builder Certification for the Epic Willow Inpatient Module

Clarity Proficiency - Willow Inpatient

Epic Systems Corporation Sep 2016
SQL Report Writing Proficiency for the Epic Willow Inpatient Data Model

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