The Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) - Advanced position provides high level support, training, and advanced management of telehealth operations and is located at Grand Junction VA Medical Center with duties that may require travel (VA Medical Center, CBOC, VA Outreach Clinic, etc.). *** This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will remain open until July 14, 2023. The initial cutoff date for referral of eligible applications will be April 26, 2023. Eligible applications received after that date will be referred at regular intervals or as additional vacancies occur on an as needed basis until positions are filled. *** Basic Requirements: -United States Citizenship Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. -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. -Experience and Education 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 Education Four academic years above high school leading to a bachelor's degree with courses related to the occupation. OR 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: 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. 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. -Certification None GS-07 Grade Determinations -Experience One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-06). (GS-06 level experience includes, but is not limited to, screening patients for Telehealth modality and referring patients that do not meet established criteria to appropriate care; communicating effectively with administrative and professional staff, and obtaining assistance for issues that may arise or backlogs that cannot be resolved in a timely manner. Responsible for performing imaging duties in accordance with VHA national telehealth guidelines such as: capture and transmission of clinical images and/or data, obtains consent as necessary, generates consults according to established procedures for each telehealth specialty, transmits images or clinical data to the electronic medical record, provides patient education regarding general anatomy, disease processes and prevention as appropriate, and takes appropriate action based on the providers' findings and recommendations. Responsible for facilitation of real-time Telehealth encounters by providing hands on assistance and reporting clinical observations under the direction of a licensed independent Practitioner or clinical specialist; schedules, confirms and coordinates Telehealth services between internal and external VA and non-VA sites; analyzes own work flow to determine potential problem areas and recommends corrective action to improve coordination between various units/facilities; has regular contact with the Facility Telehealth Coordinator to work out process issues, equipment needs, problems, data collection and any other logistical issues; responsible for conducting routine inventories and consistently tracking location/status of Telehealth technology located at assigned site; and communicates with National Telehealth Technology Help Desk to facilitate troubleshooting, repair, and coordination of replacement equipment as necessary.) AND -Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: Ability to use independent technical judgment to analyze, evaluate and resolve problems. Knowledge of quality control and assurance procedures and principles of performance improvement. Ability to function effectively between competing priorities. Knowledge of proper maintenance and troubleshooting of telehealth equipment. Ability to work with a team to provide technical guidance, plan, organize and coordinate activities of a health technician in order to effectively complete job duties of assignment such as distributing workload, monitoring the status and progress of work, monitoring accuracy of work. References: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G50 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 may be required to travel between VA and/or Non-VA clinical care sites and possession of a valid driver's license may be required. ["This position functions above the full performance level for the Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) position and serves in an advanced role. Duties associated with this advanced-level position may include, but are not limited to: Coordinating, installing, maintaining and managing the inventory of telehealth technologies including hardware and software with assistance of Biomed and IT. Providing established standardized competency based training, guidance and information on the use of advanced telehealth technologies to patients, staff, and providers. Providing established standardized competency based training for telehealth technology, facilitating interactive simulations for clinical staff participating in telehealth programs. Participating in performance improvement activities aimed at improving the efficiency of the patient telehealth processes. Developing reporting procedures, sampling techniques and measurements at various points in the telehealth processes to identify/analyze inherent weaknesses in work and procedures. Coordinating clinic set up and monitoring of workload capture and issues for assigned patient and provider clinics including telehealth resource based scheduling. Supporting designated complex telehealth programs that require advanced technical skillsets. Preparing the clinical environment, which may include preparing medical and telecommunications equipment to be used for clinical examination and treatment. Serving as a telepresenter, within scope of practice, during clinical video telehealth (CVT) and VA Video Connect (VVC) encounters including tasks such 3 as establishing and maintaining video conferencing connections, making introductions between patient site and provider site, following instructions of a clinician to facilitate an effective clinical encounter. Serving as an imager and manager of clinical data 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. Completing standardized clinical questionnaires and templates within scope of training and applicable guidelines. 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 interfacility telehealth appointments using an electronic resource-based scheduling system. Referring patients to providers for screening for Telehealth. Monitoring and maintaining schedules of rooms, patients, technologies, clinical providers and presenters as needed to ensure efficient telehealth operations. Providing 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. Coordinating and or directly configuring, installing, troubleshooting, inventory management, cleaning, and performing minor routine maintenance of assigned telehealth technology. Ensuring assigned telehealth technologies are 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. Providing education and training to Veterans, clinical staff and providers on the use of telehealth technologies and serving as a point of contact to answer questions and address concerns related to these technologies. Maintaining knowledge of and skill in applying an extensive body of rules, procedures, and operations in telehealth-related technologies and a variety of computer hardware and software used for telecommunications, data entry and retrieval, record maintenance, document and report generation. 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. Ensuring information and resources are maintained for local and remote telehealth providers so they can effectively execute contingency and emergency plans. Work Schedule: M-F, 7:30AM-4:00PM Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 53567-A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required"]
OUR MISSION: To fulfill President Lincoln's promise "To care for those who have served in our nation's military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors" - by serving and honoring the men and women who are America's Veterans. How would you like to become a part of a team providing compassionate whole health care to Veterans?Readying Warriors and Caring for Heroes! This position is located within Surgical Services at the CAPT James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center (FHCC) in North Chicago, IL. The FHCC is a first-of-its-kind partnership between the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA), and Department of Navy (DoN)/Department of Defense (DoD). It is larger than just a single facility, but rather it is a fully-integrated medical care facility with a single combined VA and Navy mission. The combined mission of the FHCC means active duty military and their family members, military retirees, and eligible veterans receive health care at this facility.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. Join the FHCC team of energetic, career-minded professionals! For additional information, click onhttp://www.lovell.fhcc.va.gov/index.asp.