Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical)

Summary

The Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) serves in a generalist role to support and manage telehealth operations. This position is located at the Berks County VA Clinic in Wyomissing, PA and the Lancaster County VA Clinic in Willow Street, PA and requires travel.

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Duties

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Duties include but are not limited to:

• 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 clinical 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
• Taking measures to ensure patient care is delivered safely by following appropriate procedures for inventory management, 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
• Screening patients for Telehealth modality and referring patients that do not meet established criteria to appropriate care
• Monitoring and maintaining schedules of rooms, patients, technologies, clinical providers and presenters as needed to ensure efficient telehealth operations
• Providing patient education via approved materials
• Supporting the Veteran in completing patient satisfaction surveys
• Communicating effectively with clinical and administrative staff at the assigned local site and those located at remote sites of care
• Configuring, installing, troubleshooting, cleaning, and performing minor routine maintenance of assigned telehealth technology
• Ensuring assigned telehealth technologies are managed appropriately to include inventory, secure, ready for use, and accounted for by preparing and tracking maintenance work orders, information systems, inventory records, and communicating with the National Telehealth Technology Help Desk to facilitate troubleshooting, repair, and coordination of replacement equipment as necessary
• Providing established education and training to Veterans, staff and providers on the use of telehealth technologies and serving as a point of contact to answer questions and address concerns related to these technologies
• Maintaining 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
• Maintaining regular contact with other staff members and the Facility Telehealth Coordinator to work out process issues, equipment needs, problems, data collection and any other logistical issues
• Arranging and completing test video calls with Veterans to prepare the Veterans for clinical encounters using telehealth technologies
• Ensuring information and resources are maintained for local and remote telehealth providers so they can effectively execute contingency and emergency plans

Work Schedule : Monday - Friday, 7:30am - 4:00pm

Telework : Not Available

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement # : PD595-05164-F and PD595-05165-F

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives : Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the 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 ( 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.
• 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

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

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
• 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: (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.

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 : In addition to the basic requirements for employment, the following criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

• GS-5 Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) - (Entry Level)
  • Experience or Education - None beyond the basic requirements.

• GS-6 Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) - (Full Performance Level)
  • Experience or Education - One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. Experience includes but 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, 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.
  • Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA). In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs.
  1. Comprehensive knowledge of computer systems and programs to perform a variety of tasks.
  2. Ability to communicate, consult, and interact with other members of the healthcare team, external relations, customer service and patient education.
  3. Ability to provide and receive guidance and technical direction.
  4. Ability to plan, organize, set priorities, work as a team member, and effectively complete assignments.
  5. Ability to read, interpret, and apply complex written instructions.
  6. Knowledge of general clinical policies and procedures in a healthcare environment.
  7. Skilled in the use of telehealth technologies for the facilitation of telehealth clinical encounters.

Preferred Experience: 1 year of telehealth technician experience, 2 years Nursing Assistant experience, or 1 year eye clinic experience.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit

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 GS05 to GS-06.

Physical Requirements: The work requires some physical exertion such as prolonged periods of standing, bending, reaching, crouching, stooping, stretching, and lifting moderately heavy items such as manuals, record boxes, equipment or assisting patients. The work requires above average agility and dexterity. The incumbent may be required to travel between VA and/or Non-VA clinical care sites and possession of a valid driver's license may be required.

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: 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:

Additional information

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.