Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical)

The Telehealth Clinical Technician serves in a generalist role to support and manage Telehealth clinical encounters from the patient and provider location as the site Telepresenter and act as imager for Telehealth store and forward applications, as well as clinic manager for real time Telehealth events, including patient education activities.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.
  • (1) 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
  • (2) Education. Four academic years above high school leading to a bachelor's degree with courses related to the occupation. OR
  • (3) 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
• Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.
• 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

Creditable Experience. Candidates need to have knowledge of current Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) Practice. To be creditable, experience must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) associated with a health care field or knowledge, skills, and abilities related to the current occupation. Experience satisfying this requirement may be paid or non paid employment in the health care field.
Quality of Experience. Qualifying experience must be at a level comparable to the Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) experience at the next lower grade level of the position being filled. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity (difficulty) and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time.
Part-Time Experience. Part-time experience is creditable according to its relationship to the full-time work week. For example, one week of full-time credit is equivalent to two weeks of part-time work.
Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical), 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 encounter
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.
References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/96 PART II APPENDIX G50
The full performance level of this vacancy is a GS-06, which is the actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy.
Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary but also requires some standing, walking, bending, lifting and carrying of light items. The work requires above average agility and dexterity. The work may require heavy lifting of equipment or assisting patients. Must be able to travel to outlying CBOC's or Outreach clinics and possess a valid driver's license.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/.Employment Type: FULL_TIME