Duties

Summary

The Lead Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) will work at the Washington DC VAMC and CBOCs.

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Responsibilities

The Lead Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) provides an array of complex and specialized duties related to leadership, staff education, technology management, as well as project and program management for all dimensions of virtual care and telehealth initiatives. In addition to lead duties, the incumbent maintains responsibility for day-to-day operation of telehealth services at the assigned location and between the assigned location and remote sites of care as well as participating in the programmatic development and advanced support of the facility-wide telehealth program.

The higher-level duties associated with this lead-level position may include, but are not limited to:

• leading a team of telehealth staff by providing guidance and technical direction relating to the telehealth program;
• working with the supervisor to develop assignments for team members in order to meet routine and unusual deadlines and priorities;
• distributing and balancing workload and tasks among employees in accordance with established workflow and/or job specialization and required rotations;
• monitoring and reporting on the status and progress of work to ensure that the supervisor's instructions on work priorities, methods, deadlines and quality have been met;
• providing information to the supervisor concerning promotions, reassignment, recognition of outstanding performance, and personnel needs;
• resolving simple, informal complaints of employees and referring others, such as formal grievances and appeals, to the supervisor or an appropriate management official;
• using a needs assessment, service agreements and other tools, collaborating with stakeholders to develop new programs and processes to ensure telehealth programs are meeting the strategic plans of the healthcare system;
• identifying and recommending ways of eliminating, combining, simplifying procedures and processes of the telehealth program. Supporting efforts to effect necessary change;
• coordinating with vendors, Biomed and IT to upgrade and or replace Telehealth technologies to minimize impact on patient care;
• developing and coordinating a wide variety of standard operating procedures with full and complete technical advice to ensure telehealth operations are timely, efficient, and appropriate;
• providing standardized developed competency based training for telehealth technology, facilitating interactive simulations for clinical staff participating in telehealth programs;
• coordinating clinic set up and monitoring of workload capture and issues for all telehealth clinics and sites, to include interfacility workload;
• preparing the clinical environment, which may include preparing medical and telecommunications equipment to be used for clinical examination and treatment;
• serving as an imager and data manager for store and forward telehealth (SFT) clinical encounters including tasks such as capturing images, collecting data and transmitting them electronically for clinical review in accordance with VHA national guidelines;
• taking measures to ensure patient care is delivered safely by following appropriate procedures for the cleaning of clinical equipment and the care environment while following all patient safety guidelines, protocols, and procedures;
• ensuring that patient privacy is protected by complying with all information security and patient privacy regulations;
• receiving and scheduling requests for simple and complex intra-facility, and inter-facility telehealth appointments using an electronic resource-based scheduling system;
• monitoring and maintaining schedules of rooms, patients, technologies, clinical providers and presenters as needed to ensure efficient telehealth operations;
• providing established patient education via approved materials;
• supporting the Veteran in completing patient satisfaction surveys;
• communicating effectively with clinical and administrative staff at the assigned local site and those located at remote sites of care;
• ensuring assigned telehealth technologies are managed, inventoried, secured, ready for use, and accounted for by preparing and tracking maintenance work orders, information systems, inventory records, and communicating with National Telehealth Technology Help Desk to facilitate troubleshooting, repair, and coordination of replacement equipment as necessary.
• maintaining regular contact with other staff members and the Facility Telehealth Coordinator to work out process issues, equipment needs, problems, data collection and any other logistical issues;
• arranging and completing test video calls with Veterans to prepare the Veterans for clinical encounters using telehealth technologies;
• completing other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00a - 4:30p or 7:30a - 4:00p
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Travel Required

Occasional travel - You may be expected to travel for this position to all CBOCs (Community-Based Outpatient Centers), Vet Centers, Medical Center, and all other VA Partners.

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
None

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to a background/security investigation
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process
• You must have a current valid drivers license.

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Basic Requirements:

Citizenship. Citizen of the United States. After a determination is made that it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens, non-citizen personnel may be appointed on a temporary basis under authority of 38 U.S.C. 7405, without regard to the citizenship requirements of 38 U.S.C. 7402 or any other law prohibiting the employment of or payment of compensation to a person who is not a citizen of the United States. Candidates must meet all other requirements for the grade and position concerned. Experience and Education.
(1) Experience. One year of experience in a health care field that demonstrates the applicant's ability to perform the work or provides an understanding of the work such as but not limited to a medical or clinical assistant (or technician) or health technician.
OR
(2) Education. Four academic years above high school leading to a bachelor's degree with courses related to the occupation.
OR
(3) Experience/Education Combination. Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable. Examples are listed below:
(a) Six months of experience in the health care field and two years of education above high school that included at least six semester hours in health care related courses such as, biological science, surgical technician courses, nursing assistant or other courses related to the position; or an associate's degree in a health care related field; or
(b) Six months of experience in the health care field and successful completion of a course for health care technicians, hospital corpsmen, or medical service specialists given by the U.S. Armed Forces. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019. English Language Proficiency. A candidate will not be appointed under authority of 38 U.S.C. chapters 73 or 74, to serve in a direct patient-care capacity in VHA who is not proficient in written and spoken English. See chapter 2, section D, paragraph 5a.

May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).

Preferred Experience: BLS certification is preferred. Preferred experience working in the hospital as a health technician or similar roll.

Grade Determinations: Lead Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical), GS-8

Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs.
(a) Ability to work with a team to provide technical guidance, plan, organize and coordinate activities of a Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) in order to effectively complete job duties of assignment such as distributing workload, monitoring the status and progress of work, monitoring accuracy of work.
(b) Skill in leadership and interpersonal relations and conflict resolution to deal with employees, team leaders, providers, and managers.
(c) Ability to communicate effectively in order to meet program objectives. This may include preparing reports in various formats and presenting data to various organizational levels.
(d) Knowledge of quality control and assurance procedures and principles of performance improvement.
(e) Skill in the assessment and resolution of complex workload capture issues using multiple data sources.
(f) Ability to develop and compose complex written instructions.
(g) Knowledge of analytical and evaluative processes to independently resolve complex issues.

References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/96 PART II APPENDIX G50

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-08.

Physical Requirements: The work requires some physical exertion such as prolonged periods of standing, bending, reaching, crouching, stooping, stretching, and lifting moderately heavy items such as manuals, record boxes, equipment or assisting patients. The work requires above average agility and dexterity. The incumbent is required to travel between VA and/or Non-VA clinical care sites and possession of a valid driver's license is required.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/ . If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html .

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

If you are unable to apply online view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application .

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, résumé, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Other

Drug test required
Yes

Required Documents

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

• Driver's License
• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action

VA Form 10-2850c Application for Associated Health Occupations can be found at: http://www.va.gov/vaforms/search_action.asp?FormNo=2850&tkey=&Action=Search .

The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please use this checklist to ensure you have included all documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), etc.

• Cover Letter
• Driver's License
• Other (2)
• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

Veterans' Preference: When applying for Federal Jobs, eligible Veterans should claim preference for 5pt (TP), 10pt (CP/CPS/XP), or for Sole Survivor Preference (SSP) in the questionnaire. You must provide a legible copy of your DD214(s) which shows dates and character of service (honorable, general, etc.). If you are currently serving on active duty and expect to be released or discharged within 120 days you must submit documentation related to your active duty service which reflects the dates of service, character of service (honorable, general, etc.), and dates of impending separation. Additionally, disabled veterans and others eligible for 10-point preference (such as widows or mothers of eligible Veterans) must also submit an SF-15 "Application for 10 Point Veteran Preference" with required proof as stated on the form. Documentation is required to award preference. For more information on Veterans' Preference, please visit http://www.fedshirevets.gov/job/vetpref/index.aspx .

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education .

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.