The Sierra Nevada Health Care System is currently recruiting for a Telehealth Clinical Technician to be placed at our Sierra Foothills Community Based Outpatient Clinic in Auburn, California.

Telehealth expands healthcare by utilizing innovative telecommunication technologies to enhance care coordination, access to care, and to routinely and proactively manage disease to prevent healthcare crises. The Telehealth Clinical Technician will serve in a generalist role to support and manage telehealth clinical encounters from the patient and the provider as the telehealth presenter. The incumbent will assist the facilities telehealth coordinator with process issues, equipment needs, data collection and logistics. The incumbent will also discuss difficult/complex health concerns and telehealth concerns with medical providers, case managers, and social workers, while providing ideal customer service to all staff, patients, and providers. Other program support duties will be assigned as necessary. Major duties include but are not limited to: 1. Performs tele-retinal screening, tele-dermatology, tele-podiatry imaging and other telehealth programming as developing technologies become available; 2. Providing patient education regarding the imaging process; 3. Generates consults and appropriately appoints and schedules the patients; 4. Assists the Nurse managers, PACT RNs, and the Primary Care Provider with the overall care of the patient. 5. Markets telehealth solutions to meet the PACT Team's patients' access to care needs. 6. Installing, maintaining, inventorying, and preparing/cleaning equipment in patient exam rooms used for telehealth; 7. Prepares providers from various disciplines to receive patients by telehealth by video
conferencing technologies. Training on telehealth peripherals including stethoscopes, otoscopes, ultrasound, Doppler's technology and scheduling software. 8. TCTs take the lead on telehealth initiatives and train their colleagues to roll out in their geographic area. 9. Responsible for the integration of Telehealth throughout the CBOC, training all clinical and support staff the process from patients to providers when doing a telehealth visit. 10. Acts as the Point of Contact for all telehealth matters at the Community Based Outpatient Clinic 11. Facilitates and coordinates National Telehealth initiatives to be implemented region wide. 12. Performs other related duties as assigned.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to a background/security investigation
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

Journey Level: 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-06.

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

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.

(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.

c. Certification. None

Combination: Equivalent combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience are also qualifying. TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED

GRADE DETERMINATIONS. In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates. a. Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical), GS-6 (Full Performance Level)
(1) Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level GS-05 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.

(3) 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:https://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/Directives-Handbooks/Documents/5005.pdf VA Handbook 5005/96 Appendix G50 Part II Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical), GS-640.

Work Schedule: Full-Time 40 hours per week; HOURS 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Compressed/Flexible Schedule: NOT AVAILABLE
Telework: NOT AVAILABLE
Virtual: This IS NOT a virtual position.
Functional Statement: Health Technician, FS - 40627-A Health Technician -Telehealth Clinical Technician GS 640-06
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: NOT AUTHORIZED
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required for this position
This position is covered by the bargaining unit

Physical Requirements: Duties require extensive periods of standing and walking. Workload requires regular and recurring bending, lifting, stooping, stretching, repositioning patients, and similar activities. The work requires moving and transporting of heavy items such as patients with limited mobility, gurneys, and other equipment on a regular and recurring basis.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, résumé, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.