Summary The Kansas City VA Medical Center is looking for a Health Technician. The Health Technician is assigned to a Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) as part of the Kansas City VA Medical Center. The CBOCs are aligned under the Primary Care Service Line and assist in providing outpatient medical care to Veterans in rural areas. Responsibilities MAJOR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES: Collects, labels, and processes a variety of specimens (drawing blood by means of venipuncture, obtaining urine and other specimens). Performs a wide range of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures including but not limited to venipuncture and EKG. Maintains laboratory equipment and controls supplies. Ensures that a sufficient supply of reagents, standards and controls are available at all times by ordering an adequate supply from commercial sources or preparing a variety of specialized solutions or reagents. Using established procedures, calibrates, controls, and maintains a variety of instrumentation and laboratory equipment. When calibrations falls outside acceptable limits, incumbent uses independent judgment in adjusting either the procedure or the mechanical device used in the determination to bring the procedures into good quality control. Review of patients referred for tele-retinal imaging for clinical appropriateness. Performs Tele-retinal imaging on clinically indicated Diabetic patients, Provides clinical support and assists physicians/providers and nurses as needed. Duties include but are not limited to initial patient assessment, checking vital signs, preparation of patient for examination and assistance with treatment procedures. Participates with and assists physicians and nurses in a patient medical emergency and must comply with all Fire and Safety, Hazardous Material policies. Maintains examination rooms with medical equipment, supplies and forms. Supplies are ordered from SPD as needed and replace needle boxes. Cleans exam table daily with appropriate cleaner Performs more complex patient care procedures such as collects sterile specimens, assists with respiratory treatments, performing dressing changes, ostomy care, catheter irrigations, weights, cares for patients in isolation, sets up and gives treatments that require auxiliary equipment such as oxygen, and calculates intakes and outputs Enters all information related to scheduling patients into the computer accurately, completely and in a timely manner. Checks patient in and out of clinic providing appropriate records to the clinicians. Schedules patients for clinic appointments per consult appropriate for purpose. Provides support to clinical personnel through taking messages, retrieving clinical information, scheduling appointments, tests, procedures, arranging travel and notifying patient by phone and/or letter of future appointments/tests. Assists with orientation to new employees in the CBOC or Primary Care Service Line. Applies all VA policies, procedures, and regulations as they apply to an outpatient setting. Demonstrates effective written and oral communication skills. Records vital signs and other significant patient data in the electronic medical record Participates in Team Meetings and Huddles to enhance patient services and clinic efficiency. Consistently responds to requests for assistance from patients and family members, visitors, volunteers, and co-workers in a friendly, cooperative, ethical and timely manner Communicates with all individuals in a courteous, tactful, helpful, ethical and understanding manner Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 6:45am-3:15pm CST Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Health Technician/PD08326A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Requirements 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 Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required. You may be required to serve a probationary/trial period 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 dentification 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) - See "Required Documents" below for details. Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/20/2025. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Collecting, labeling, and processing a variety of specimens (drawing blood by means of venipuncture, obtaining urine and other specimens); providing program/administrative support functions (i.e., handling telephone calls, taking messages or transferring the call; , including retrieving clinical information and providing appropriate records for physicians/nurses). For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/. Education There is no educational substitution at this grade level. 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: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. 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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. 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." Receiving Service Credit or 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. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. 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. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. 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. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.
