This position is within the Audiology Section of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation Services (PM&RS) of the Veterans Administration Montana Health Care System (VA MT HCS) serving Montana's Veteran population.

Duties

The incumbent performs a full range of duties and is responsible for day-to-day telehealth services and clinical support services of staff audiologists at assigned location as well as participates in the programmatic development and advanced support of the facility-wide audiology program. The incumbent is expected to exercise independent judgement and will often provide guidance to less experienced staff members and will require minimal direct supervision. This advanced position functions above the full performance level and therefore requires the performance of higher-level duties which must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty) and range of variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. The higher-level duties associated with this advanced-level position may include, but are not limited to: a)Coordinating, installing, maintaining and managing the inventory of telehealth technologies including hardware and software with assistance of Biomed and IT. b)Providing established standardized competency-based training, guidance and information on the use of advanced telehealth technologies to patients, staff, and providers. c)Providing established standardized competency-based training for telehealth technology, facilitating interactive simulations for clinical staff participating in telehealth programs. d)Participating in performance improvement activities aimed at improving the efficiency of the patient telehealth processes. e)Developing reporting procedures, sampling techniques and measurements at various points in the telehealth processes to identify/analyze inherent weaknesses in work and procedures. Audiology Direct Patient Care duties include, but are not limited to: a) Prepares the clinical environment for advanced testing procedures (diagnostic hearing evaluations, vestibular testing, evoked potentials, teleaudiology, etc.) which are performed by the audiologist. b) Serves as a telepresenter, within scope of practice, during clinical video telehealth (CVT) and VA Video Connect (VVC) encounters including tasks such 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; c) Performs cerumen management & ear impression procedures in accordance with clinic & infection control protocols. d) Performs technical check, troubleshooting, and minor repairs to hearing aids. e) Serves as technical experts in the operation and maintenance of specialized equipment. f) Provides patient instruction and counseling on hearing loss or hearing aids either on an individual basis, group setting, and/or with caregivers. g) Performs non-diagnostic traditional and video otoscopy. h) Verifies hearing aid settings are correct upon receiving hearing aid repairs by connecting to Noah and programming previously stored settings into hearing aids. Administrative duties include, but are not limited to: a) Manages clinic inventory including hearing aid devices to be fit, loaner devices, and clinic supplies. b) Manages incoming and outgoing shipments, verifying orders to ensure components are present and working correctly. c) Processing ROES transactions (e.g. certifying and issuing hearing aids, entering orders and repairs). d) Provides education and training to fellow health technicians (telehealth or audiology) on audiology clinic duties and procedures as well as the use of telehealth technologies and serves as a point of contact to answer questions and address concerns related to these topics. e) Maintains 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. f) Maintains regular contact with other staff members, Audiology supervisors, and the Facility Telehealth Coordinator to work out process issues, equipment needs, problems, data collection and any other logistical issues. Work Schedule: 8:00am - 4:30pm, Monday - Friday Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 436-50981-A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized 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: 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: 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'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. 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). Grade Determinations: Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical), GS-7 (Advanced) 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 use independent technical judgment to analyze, evaluate and resolve problems. (b) Knowledge of quality control and assurance procedures and principles of performance improvement. (c) Ability to function effectively between competing priorities. (d) Knowledge of proper maintenance and troubleshooting of telehealth equipment. (e) 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. (f) Ability to assist in Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) development, outcome management and strategic planning. (g) Ability to perform successful knowledge transfer regarding the use of telehealth technologies. Assignment - At the Advanced Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) level, the incumbent will monitor and capture workload credit, develop reporting procedures and participate in performance improvement activities aimed at improving patient care access and Telehealth processes. This would include; sampling techniques, taking measurements at various points in the telehealth process; and develop and provide reporting procedures that identifies and analyzes inherent weaknesses in work and telehealth procedures. The incumbent will coordinate and work with Biomed and IT staff for the installation and upgrade of hardware and software for all telehealth technologies; will be responsible for advanced telehealth technical support to patients, staff and providers; provides technical consultation and support for staff and patients via phone, web chat, social media and face to face sessions; provides instruction, training and resources on the use of advanced telehealth technologies to patients, staff and providers alike for the delivery of care using telehealth technologies. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty) and range of variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. References: Hybrid Title 38 Occupation official qualification standards of the position as stated in VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G50. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-7. Physical Requirements: This position requires frequent bending and lifting, and the ability to assist patients with a variety of therapeutic activities. Incumbent must be able to lift 50 pounds to the chest height and maintain good body mechanics. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.

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 Fort Harrison VA Medical Center 3687 Veterans Drive Fort Harrison, MT 59636 US
• Name: Luis Fuentes Jr.
• Phone: 801-582-1565 X4405
• Email: [email protected]