Summary The Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) serves in a generalist role to support and manage telehealth operations at the VA Eastern Colorado Health Care | Veterans Affairs. Responsibilities VA offers a Comprehensive Total Rewards package: Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional. The duties include but are not limited to the following: Preparing the clinical environment, which may include preparing medical and telecommunications equipment to be used to clinical examination and treatment. Serving as a telepresenter, within scope of practice, during CVT and WC 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 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 measure 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 interfacility 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. 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. Coordinating and/or directly configuring installing, troubleshooting, inventory management, cleaning, and performing minor routine maintenance of assigned telehealth technology. Ensuring assigned telehealth technologies are secured, ready to 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. Providing education and training to Veterans, clinical 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, and 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 text 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: Full-time | 7:30pm -4:00pm Flexible: Yes 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: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position Functional Statement #: 554-55223-A Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Requirements 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 (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). 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 two (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. Citizenship. Citizen of the United States. Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy. Experience and Education. One (1) 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 (4) 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 (6) 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 (6) 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. GRADE DETERMINATON | GS-06 Experience. Must also have one (1) year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 level, to include but are not limited to, scheduled telehealth appointments using an electronic scheduling system, obtained and documented patient history and pertinent clinical information in electronic medical records, prepared the telehealth room where the Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) readies the equipment for examination, established video conferencing connection, made introductions between patient site and provider site, monitored and maintained electronic schedule of rooms, patients, technologies, and presenters, administered the patient satisfaction survey, cleaned and performed minor routine maintenance of assigned telehealth technology. In addition to the candidate must demonstrate all of the following Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA): 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. 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). Preferred Experience: Health Technician, Healthcare and Audiology experience. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. 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 an above average agility and dexterity. The incumbent may be required to travel between VA and/or non-VA critical care sites and possession of a valid driver's license is 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: 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 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.
