The Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) serves in a generalist role to support and manage telehealth operations and is typically stationed at a clinical care delivery site (VA Medical Center, CBOC, VA Outreach Clinic, etc.), with duties that may require travel. This position is a full-time at 40 hours per week.

Duties

The purpose of this position is to serve as a Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical)at a VA Maine Healthcare Systems, Rumford campus. Duties include, but are not limited to, the following: Preparing the clinical environment, which may include preparing medical and telecommunications equipment. Serve as tele-presenter, during clinical video telehealth (CVT) and VVC encounters. Establishing and maintaining video conferencing connections. Making introductions between patient site and provider site. Serve as an imager and data manager for store and forward telehealth (SFT) clinical encounters/tasks. Ensuring patient care is delivered safely by following appropriate procedures for cleaning clinical equipment and the care environment - following patient safety guidelines, protocols, and procedures. Completing standardized clinical questionnaires and templates. Ensures protection of patient privacy. Receiving/scheduling requests for simple &/or complex intra-facility and inter-facility telehealth appointments, using electronic resource-based scheduling system. Screening patients for Telehealth modality. Referring patients to appropriate care. Monitoring/maintaining schedules of rooms, patients, technologies, clinical providers and presenters, to ensure efficient telehealth operations. Providing patient education, via approved materials. Supporting the Veteran in completing patient satisfaction surveys. Communicating effectively w/clinical and administrative staff. Configuring, installing, troubleshooting, 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, info systems, inventory records and communicating with National Telehealth Technology Help Desk, to facilitate troubleshooting, repair, and coordination of replacement equipment, as necessary. Providing established education and training to Veterans and clinicians, on the use of telehealth technologies. Serving as point-of-contact to answer questions/address concerns related to telehealth 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/software used for telecommunication, data entry and retrieval, record maintenance, document and report generation. Maintaining regular contact with more experienced staff members, and the facility Telehealth Coordinator, to deduce process issues, equipment needs, problems, data collection, and any other logistical issues. Arranging and completing test video calls with Veterans, in preparation for clinical encounters, using telehealth technologies. Ensuring information/resources are maintained for local & remote telehealth providers. Completing other duties as assigned. 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. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:30am - 4:00pm Compressed/Flexible: Not Available Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: F2125/F2126 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required Notification : This position is an AFGE Bargaining Unit position. This position is in the Excepted Service. This position is covered by a special rate. Current Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held. The incumbent may be required to travel to other VA campuses and CBOC's. Narrative responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) may be required from the selectee in order to proceed with the appointment.

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• You may be required to serve a probationary period.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.

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'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. 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).See more below under education . Grade Determinations In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. GS-5 (Entry Level) Experience or Education: None beyond the basic requirements. Assignment: This is an entry level Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) position. It is expected that the Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) receive guidance from more experienced staff members and require frequent and direct supervision. Assignments associated with this position include, but are not limited to, schedule telehealth appointments using an electronic scheduling system; obtain and document patient history and pertinent clinical information in electronic medical records; prepares the telehealth room where the Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) readies the equipment for examination, establishes video conferencing connection, makes introductions between patient site and provider site; monitors and maintains electronic schedule of rooms, patients, technologies, and presenters; administers the patient satisfaction survey; cleans and performs minor routine maintenance of assigned telehealth technology. GS-6 (Full Performance Level) Experience: One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA) In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs: (a) Comprehensive knowledge of computer systems and programs to perform a variety of tasks. (b) Ability to communicate, consult, and interact with other members of the healthcare team, external relations, customer service and patient education. (c) Ability to provide and receive guidance and technical direction. (d) Ability to plan, organize, set priorities, work as a team member, and effectively complete assignments. (e) Ability to read, interpret, and apply complex written instructions. (f) Knowledge of general clinical policies and procedures in a healthcare environment. (g) 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. Preferred Experience: Telehealth Experience, Scheduling, and/or Computer Proficiency to include utilizing multiple integrated computer systems and software applications. References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/96 PART II APPENDIX G50. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-06. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-05 to GS-06. 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.

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 Togus VA Medical Center 1 VA Center Augusta, ME 04330 US
• Name: BRANDY SMITH
• Phone: 410-585-5823
• Email: [email protected]