Veterans Health Administration

Compensation

Full Description

Summary The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this occupational series. For more information, refer to Required Documents below. 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. Duties Help Primary responsibilities of the incumbent include: supporting clinical telehealth encounters for both the patient and provider locations by serving as the tele-presenter per scope of practice, functioning as an imager and data manager for telehealth store and forward applications, managing real time clinical telehealth events, providing patient education, and providing technical and administrative support of telehealth operations. This is an entry level Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) position. The incumbent performs a full range of duties and is responsible for day-to-day operation of telehealth services at the assigned location and between the assigned location and remote sites of care. It is expected that the incumbent will receive guidance from more experienced staff members and require frequent and direct supervision. Assignments associated with this position include, but are not limited to: • The incumbent prepares the clinical environment, which may include preparing medical and telecommunications equipment to be used for clinical examination and treatment. • The incumbent serves as a tele-presenter per scope of practice, during clinical video telehealth (CVT) and 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. • The incumbent serves as an imager and data manager 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. • The incumbent 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. • The incumbent completes standardized clinical questionnaires and templates within scope of training and applicable guidelines and ensures that patient privacy is protected by complying with all information security and patient privacy regulations. • The incumbent receives and schedules requests for simple and complex intra-facility, and inter-facility telehealth appointments using an electronic resource-based scheduling system and screens patients for Telehealth modality and referring patients that do not meet established criteria to appropriate care. • The incumbent monitors and maintain schedules of rooms, patients, technologies, clinical providers and presenters as needed to ensure efficient telehealth operations; providing patient education via approved materials. • The incumbent supports the Veteran in completing patient satisfaction surveys; communicates effectively with clinical and administrative staff at the assigned local site and those located at remote sites of care. • The incumbent configures, installs, troubleshoots, clean, and perform 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. • The incumbent provides established education and training to Veterans and clinicians on the use of telehealth technologies and serving as a point of contact to answer questions and address concerns related to these technologies. • The incumbent maintains 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. • The incumbent maintains regular contact with more experienced staff members and the Facility Telehealth Coordinator to work out process issues, equipment needs, problems, data collection and any other logistical issues. • The incumbent arranges and completes test video calls with Veterans to prepare the Veterans for clinical encounters using telehealth technologies; and ensures information and resources are maintained for local and remote telehealth providers so they can effectively execute contingency and emergency plans. • The incumbent will complete other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: 7:45am to 4:30pm Compressed/Flexible: Not Authorized Telework: Not eligible for telework. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 60154-F Driving Required: Yes Travel Required: 25% or greater - The incumbent may be required to travel between VA and/or Non-VA clinical care sites. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Requirements Help Conditions of employment • 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. • Subject to background/security investigation. • Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment. • Must pass pre-employment physical examination. • Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). • Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement. • Applicant must possess a valid state issued driver's license. Selectee will be required to provide a copy of a clean driving record after job offer. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: • your performance and conduct; • the needs and interests of the agency; • whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and • whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Qualifications BASIC REQUIREMENTS a. Citizenship. Citizen of the United States. After a determination is made that it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens, non-citizen personnel may be appointed on a temporary basis under authority of 38 U.S.C. 7405, without regard to the citizenship requirements of 38 U.S.C. 7402 or any other law prohibiting the employment of or payment of compensation to a person who is not a citizen of the United States. Candidates must meet all other requirements for the grade and position concerned. 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. (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 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). 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. 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 Sa, this part. Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. GS-05: None beyond the Basic Requirements GS-06:(1) Experience. You must possess at least one (1) year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level GS-05 in the federal service that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the Telehealth Clinical Technician, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. 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 and 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. (2) 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. Preferred Experience: At least one (1) year of experience that equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to perform successfully the duties of the Telehealth Clinical Technician, and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. 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 and 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. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. 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: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019 Education Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Depa...