Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical)

Summary 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. 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 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. Education: Four academic years above high school leading to a bachelor’s degree with courses related to the occupation Experience/Education Combination: Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable. Examples include: 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 (e.g., biological science, nursing assistant or other related courses) or an associate’s degree in a health care related field. 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 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. Grandfathering Provision may apply as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees in this occupation who meet the criteria). Grade Determinations: Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) – GS-5 (Entry Level) with Experience or Education; GS-6 (Full Performance Level) with additional KSAs. Assignment: This is an entry level Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) position. It is expected that the Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) will receive guidance from more experienced staff and require frequent supervision. Duties and Responsibilities Assignments 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. Prepare the telehealth room, ready the equipment for examination, establish video conferencing connections, and introduce patient site and provider site. Monitor and maintain electronic schedule of rooms, patients, technologies, and presenters. Administer patient satisfaction surveys and perform routine maintenance of assigned telehealth technology. Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) – GS-6 duties include a full range of telehealth responsibilities such as screening patients for Telehealth modality and referring patients who do not meet criteria, communicating with staff, and obtaining assistance for issues or backlogs. Perform imaging duties in accordance with VHA national telehealth guidelines (capture/transmit clinical images or data, obtain consent, generate consults, transmit to EMR, provide patient education, and act on providers’ findings). Facilitate real-time Telehealth encounters by providing hands-on assistance and reporting clinical observations under the direction of a licensed practitioner or clinical specialist. Schedule, confirm, and coordinate Telehealth services between internal and external VA and non-VA sites. Analyze workflow to identify problem areas and recommend corrective actions to improve coordination between units/facilities. Maintain regular contact with the Facility Telehealth Coordinator to address process issues, equipment needs, problems, data collection, and other logistics. Conduct routine inventories and track location/status of Telehealth technology at the assigned site. Communicate with the National Telehealth Technology Help Desk to facilitate troubleshooting, repair, and replacement coordination. Reference: For more information, visit (full performance level is GS-6; actual recruitment range is GS-5 to GS-6). Physical Requirements: Participation in pre-employment examination or evaluation may be required. Questions about physical demands may be addressed at evaluation. Responsibilities and Work Environment Total rewards include: Preparing the clinical environment and telecommunications equipment for clinical examination and treatment; serving as a telepresenter within scope of practice during CVT and VA Video Connect encounters; acting as an imager and data manager for store-and-forward telehealth; ensuring patient safety and privacy; scheduling intra-facility and interfacility telehealth appointments; maintaining telehealth room and equipment schedules; providing patient education; supporting patient satisfaction surveys; effective communication with staff locally and remotely; configuration, installation, troubleshooting, and maintenance of telehealth technology; providing education and training on telehealth technologies; coordinating with the Facility Telehealth Coordinator on process issues and equipment needs; arranging test video calls and contingency planning as needed. Maintaining information and resources for local and remote telehealth providers to support contingency and emergency plans; performing other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Full-time, Monday - Friday, 7:30am - 4:00pm CST. Pay and benefits: comprehensive federal benefits, including paid time off, parental leave, and retirement options, as applicable. Functional Statement #: 000000; PCS: Not Authorized. #J-18808-Ljbffr