The Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) serves in a generalist role to support and manage telehealth operations and is typically stationed at a clinic care delivery site (VA Medical Center, CBOC, VA Outreach Clinic, etc.), with duties that may require travel. The incumbent may be required to travel between VA and/or Non-VA clinical care sites and in possession of a valid driver's license.

Duties

Assignments associated with this position include, but are not limited to primary responsibilities include: supporting clinical telehealth encounters for both the patient and provider locations by serving as the tele-presenter within scope of practice, functioning as an imager and clinical data manager for telehealth store and forward applications managing real time clinical telehealth events, providing established instructions for patients, and providing technical, and administrative support of telehealth operations. Serving as an imager and clinical 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 inventory management, 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 inter-facility telehealth appointments using electronic resource-based scheduling system. Screening patients for Telehealth modality and referring patients that do not meet established criteria to appropriate care. 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. Configuring, installing, troubleshooting, cleaning, and performing minor routine maintenance of assigned telehealth technology. Ensuring assigned telehealth technologies are managed appropriately to include inventory, secure, ready for use, and accounted for by preparing and tracking maintenance work orders, information systems, inventory records, and communicating with the National Telehealth Technology Help Desk to facilitate troubleshooting, repair, and coordination of replacement equipment as necessary Work Schedule: Monday to Friday 8:00am to 4:30pm License: Valid Driver's License Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 26302F Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

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: 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. See chapter 2, section D, paragraph 5a, this part. 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: (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 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. Certification. None 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). Creditable Experience. Candidates need to have knowledge of current Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) Practice. To be creditable, experience must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) associated with a health care field or knowledge, skills, and abilities related to the current occupation. Experience satisfying this requirement may be paid or non-paid employment in the health care field. Quality of Experience. Qualifying experience must be at a level comparable to the Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) experience at the next lower grade level of the position being filled. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity (difficulty) and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Part-Time Experience. Part-time experience is creditable according to its relationship to the full-time work week. For example, one week of full-time credit is equivalent to two weeks of part-time work. Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical): GS-6 (Full Performance Level) Experience; One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level in addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA); Comprehensive knowledge of computer systems and programs to perform a variety of tasks. Ability to communicate, consult, and interact with other members of the healthcare team, external relations, customer service and patient education. Ability to provide and receive guidance and technical direction. Ability to plan, organize, set priorities, work as a team member, and effectively complete assignments. Ability to read, interpret, and apply complex written instructions. Knowledge of general clinical policies and procedures in a healthcare environment. Skilled in the use of telehealth technologies for the facilitation of telehealth clinical encounters. Assignment. This is considered the full performance level for this assignment. The Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) performs a full range of duties and is responsible for day-to-day operation of the Connected Care Services. Assignments at this level include, but are 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. References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/96 FEBRUARY 7, 2018, PART II APPENDIX G50 II-G50-4 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-6. The actual grade at which an applicant will be selected for this vacancy is GS-6. Physical requirement: The work require 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. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level.

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.

Contacts

• Address VA New Jersey Health Care System 385 Tremont Avenue East Orange, NJ 07018 US
• Name: Aleni Salcedo
• Phone: 917 859 9405
• Email: [email protected]