Clarification from the agency

This job is open to current permanent employees of the Nebraska Western-Iowa VA Health Care System.

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This position functions above the full performance level for the Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) position and serves in an advanced role. 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 as well as participating in the programmatic development and advanced support of the facility-wide telehealth program. The incumbent is expected to be able to exercise independent judgement and will often provide guidance to less experienced staff members and will require minimal direct supervision.

Major duties include, but are not limited to the following:

• The higher level duties associated with this position:
  • 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'.
• Full performance level level duties associated with this position:
  • Preparing the clinical environment, which may include preparing medical and telecommunications equipment to be used for clinical examination and treatment;
  • Serving as a telepresenter, 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;

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases
Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)
Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.
Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.
Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)
Telework: Ad-hoc
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #:000000
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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.
• NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.
• 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 identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• Must possess a valid drivers license.
• 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.

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:

• 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 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).

Grade Determinations:

Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical), GS-7 (Advanced):

• Experience: One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-6).
  • GS-6 level experience includes: Comprehensive knowledge of computer systems and programs to perform a variety of tasks. Ability to communicate, consult, and interact with other members of the healthcare team, external relations, customer service and patient education. Ability to provide and receive guidance and technical direction. Ability to plan, organize, set priorities, work as a team member, and effectively complete assignments. Ability to read, interpret, and apply complex written instructions. Knowledge of general clinical policies and procedures in a healthcare environment. Skilled in the use of telehealth technologies for the facilitation of telehealth clinical encounters
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: In addition to the experience above, the candidate 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.

Preferred Experience: Experience with Telehealth scheduling.

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-7.. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-7.

Physical Requirements: ???????You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position. Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination.

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, resume, 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.

This job is open to current permanent employees of the Nebraska Western-Iowa VA Health Care System. Only current employees of this healthcare system will be referred.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.