This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application.

Duties

Functions: Designing, establishing, maintaining, evaluating, and reporting of a comprehensive Quality Assurance and Continuous Quality Improvement program for the VAPSHCS Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Service Line Represents PLMS Management on all Clinical Laboratory issues pertaining to quality improvement during accrediting agency, federal, state, and VHA inspections. Coordinates and assists staff members with all responses to deficiencies cited by accreditation organizations, state, federal and VHA. Responds to all quality management deficiencies cited by accreditation organizations and VHA. Serves as an authority on inspection and accreditation requirements and regulations to all VAPSHCS Labs. Conducts desk audits or site visits, when appropriate, to assess compliance with VHA regulations, accreditation agency regulations, and PLMS policy/procedures. Advises the Chief and Laboratory Manager of PLMS on quality management concerns. Coordinates service preparation for external reviews which include Joint Commission, IG, CAP, FDA, etc. Develops, recommends, and updates General/Administrative laboratory policy and procedure manuals in compliance with applicable VHA, Joint Commission, and CAP accreditation requirements. Development and recommendation of all PLMS quality management policy memorandums as required Maintains membership on other hospital and Network committees as appropriate. Serves as PLMS liaison on these committees. Provides oversight, guidance, and advice in the development of required Quality Assurance monitors and focused reviews. Oversees design of data collection forms appropriate to the indicators being monitored, making recommendations and suggestions when necessary. Presents/assigns quality assurance data, quality management information and quality issues as they arise and their resolution at staff meetings. Presents the results of quality assurance/improvement activities to hospital committees Resolves laboratory quality management issues Performs annual assessment of the PLMS QI/QA plan to determine the plan's effectiveness. Maintains the CAP Proficiency Testing program for PLM&S. Ensures that all Proficiency Exams are logged and tracked in the system. Monitors proficiency testing results Guidance and advice to PLMS Section Supervisors on the development of required Quality Assurance monitors and focused reviews. Maintains an on-going relationship with the laboratory information manager and all laboratory supervisors to coordinate acquisition of appropriate data and narrative documentation of results of studies. Maintains an on-going relationship with facility's Patient Safety Managers. Reports patient safety incidents to the Patient Safety Manager. Assists in the investigation of all laboratory related patient safety incidents. Development of actions plans and process improvement initiatives. Liaison with the facility Quality Management, VISN 20 Quality Management and the VHA Regional Commissioner's office. Conducting mock accreditation patient tracers throughout the VAPSHCS to assess compliance with accreditation standards, medical center policies and procedures. Participates in medical center and network or national initiatives as appropriate, and represents the laboratory when on committees, task forces, root cause analysis, health care failure mode effect analysis, and work groups. Manages all quality management questions and reports from and to VA Central Office Conducts monthly Quality Assurance/Performance Improvement meetings and collates monthly data, looking for trends. Coordinates information with the section supervisors and ensures that minutes are posted to the share drive. Provides advice, counsel, instruction and interpretative guidance to supervisory personnel and other individuals on quality management matters, accreditation standards and regulations Organizes meetings or presents at scheduled staff meetings inspection and accreditation rules, regulations, and standards of all laboratory accrediting agencies. Provides consultative services for laboratory related root cause analysis, healthcare failure mode effect analysis and sentinel events. Develops action plans and outcome measures. Establishes processes to monitor compliance with policy, to identify patterns and/or trends and to ensure that findings from quality management activities and performance improvement initiatives are used to redesign systems to improve the quality. Follows up with PLMS sites when monitoring activities indicate the need. Work Schedule: Mon-Fri 0700-1530 Telework: Available-Ad Hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 0000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized EDRP Authorized: Please contact the VISN 20 EDRP Coordinator @ [email protected] Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement. 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. Education and/or Experience Combination: A bachelor's degree or higher from an accredited college or university in medical laboratory science, medical technology, clinical laboratory science or in a related science (e.g., laboratory sciences such as chemistry, biochemistry, biology, microbiology, immunology, etc.) AND completion of a medical technology clinical practice program. Clinical practice programs completed after 1974 must have been accredited by the National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS), Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP, formerly CAHEA), or the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools (ABHES). The professional curriculum may have consisted of a post-baccalaureate certificate program or be integrated into a four year program of study that culminated in a baccalaureate degree. OR A bachelor's degree from an accredited college/university, including 16 semester hours of biological science (with one course in microbiology), 16 semester hours of chemistry (with one course in organic or biochemistry) and one course in mathematics, AND two years of post-certification clinical laboratory experience (e.g., blood banking, chemistry, hematology, microbiology, immunology, clinical microscopy, etc.) within the last ten years as a certified Medical Laboratory Technician by the American Society for Clinical Pathology Board of Certification (ASCP-BOC), American Society of Clinical Pathology Board of Registry (ASCP-BOR) or American Medical Technologists (AMT). This experience must include performing moderate and/or high complexity testing in blood banking, chemistry, hematology, microbiology immunology and clinical microscopy (or categorical experience which matches categorical certification) in a clinical laboratory. OR A bachelor's degree from an accredited college/university, including 16 semester hours of biological science (with one course in microbiology), 16 semester hours of chemistry (with one course in organic or biochemistry) and one course in mathematics, AND five years of clinical laboratory experience within the last ten years performing moderate and/or high complexity testing in blood banking, chemistry, hematology, microbiology, immunology and clinical microscopy (or categorical experience which matches categorical certification) in a clinical laboratory. Foreign Graduates: Graduates of foreign baccalaureate degree programs meet the educational and/or experience requirements if the degree is found to be equivalent to degree programs recognized by the NAACLS or clinical laboratory experience as described in paragraph 2b(2) or (3) above. This finding may be based on either of the following: A letter from a college or university with a baccalaureate program recognized by the NAACLS stating that the individual's foreign degree has been evaluated and been found to be equivalent to its bachelor of medical technology degree. A letter from ASCP-BOC or AMT stating that the individual is eligible for the certification examination. Certification: Candidates must currently possess the appropriate certification as a MT, MLS, or CLS given by the ASCP-BOC, ASCP-BOR, or AMT. Loss of Credential: Once certified, MTs must maintain their certification. Loss of certification will result in removal from the occupation and may result in termination of employment. English Language Proficiency: MTs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with chapter 2, section D, paragraph 5a, this part. 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. The following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. GS-11 Quality Management Technologist (a) Experience. Must have 1 year of creditable experience equivalent to the full performance level (GS-9), which is directly related to the position to be filled. OR, (b) Education. Must have 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education or a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree in medical technology or a directly related field. In addition to the experience or education above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: a. Advanced knowledge of the concepts, principles and practices of medical technology sufficient to perform the full range of duties involved in planning, coordinating and evaluating laboratory services. b. Knowledge of quality management standards. c. Knowledge of accrediting agencies and regulatory requirements pertaining to laboratory operations. d. Comprehensive knowledge of statistical evaluation and analysis. e. Knowledge of laboratory operations and relationships to the organization. f. Comprehensive knowledge of laboratory quality control/assurance policies, procedures and principles, as well as safety practices and regulations. Quality Management Technologist. Provides authoritative consultative services to management at all levels of the organization as it applies to quality management in a clinical laboratory setting. Maintains a laboratory quality management program and ensures monitoring of components and customer feedback. Identifies, defines and resolves issues associated with complex aspects of the collected data. Monitors laboratory quality control systems and performance indicators. Interacts with management officials and vendors providing inter-laboratory quality assurance and laboratory proficiency testing. Develops validation plans for equipment and methodology evaluations and evaluates statistical data collected. Responsible for laboratory continuous readiness for regulating agency inspections and accreditation from agencies such as the Joint Commission (JC) and the College of American Pathologists (CAP). References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/72 PART II APPENDIX G24 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-11. Physical Requirements: Moderate Lifting, reaching above shoulder, use of fingers, walking, standing; ability to distinguish basic colors; mental and emotional stability Environmental Factors: Working closely with others; Working alone

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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Contacts

• Address VA Puget Sound Health Care System 1660 South Columbian Way Seattle, WA 98108 US
• Name: Melissa Quilter
• Phone: 360-696-4061 X38599
• Email: [email protected]