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.

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Duties

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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.

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 per scope of practice, during clinical video telehealth (CVT) and VA Video Connect (VVC) 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 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 Veterans Health Administration (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
• Communicating effectively with clinical and administrative staff at the assigned local site and those located at remote sites of care
• 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

Work Schedule : Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 4:30 pm

Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Not authorized

Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not authorized

Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).

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). Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.

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 : Not available

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement # : 40835 - F / 40836- F

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.
• 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.
• Must pass pre-employment physical evaluation/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.

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

GS-5 (Entry Level):

• Experience or Education . None beyond the basic requirements.

GS-6 (Full Performance Level):

(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: Previous experience in Home Telehealth or Remote Patient Monitoring. Experience with Electronic Health Records. Experience with standard products including computer, email, word processing, etc.

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: 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.

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

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on 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

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.

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.

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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