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.
- 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.
Grandfathering Provision. All Health Technicians (Telehealth Clinical) employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series, and grade held. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements required in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply:
(1) Such employees may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journeyman) level, or changed to lower grade within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the journeyman level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions.
(2) Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis, until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.
(3) If an employee who was retained (grandfathered) under this provision leaves that occupation, the employee loses protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of re-entry to the occupation.
Grade Determinations:
GS-7 Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) Advanced Level
Specialized Experience At least 1 year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level that demonstrates the technical competencies described at this level.
Experience or this position includes that which provides a working knowledge and ability to screen patients for Telehealth modality and refer patients that do not meet established criteria to appropriate care; 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; provides hands on assistance and reports clinical observations under the direction of a licensed independent Practitioner or clinical specialist; work out process issues, equipment needs, problems, data collection and any other logistical issues; conducts routine inventories and consistently tracking location/status of Telehealth technology located at assigned site; troubleshoots, repairs, and coordination of replacement equipment as necessary.
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.
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: In addition to the experience above, you must demonstrate all of the following KSAs.
- Ability to use independent technical judgment to analyze, evaluate and resolve problems.
- Knowledge of quality control and assurance procedures and principles of performance improvement.
- Ability to function effectively between competing priorities.
- Knowledge of proper maintenance and troubleshooting of telehealth equipment.
- 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.
- Ability to assist in Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) development, outcome management and strategic planning.
- Ability to perform successful knowledge transfer regarding the use of telehealth technologies.
Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit
https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.
The full performance level of this vacancy is GS7.
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. You 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.