The Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) Advanced provides high level support, training, and advanced management of telehealth operations and is typically stationed at a clinical care delivery site (VA Medical Center, CBOC, VA Outreach Clinic, etc.).

Duties

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 tele-presenter, 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; 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 inter-facility 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: Monday - Friday; 8:00am - 4:30pm Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 01037F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

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. 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; OR 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). GS-07 Grade Determinations: 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. References: VA Handbook 5005/96 Part II Appendix G50 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-07. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-07. Physical Requirements: Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for the occupation, see Duties section for essential job duties of the position. May require standing, lifting, carrying, sitting, stooping, bending, pulling, and pushing. May be required to wear personal protective equipment and undergo annual TB screening or testing as conditions of employment.

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 Michael E DeBakey VA Medical Center 2002 Holcombe Boulevard Houston, TX 77030 US
• Name: Timothy Countryman
• Phone: 303-330-7566
• Email: [email protected]