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This position functions above the full performance level for the Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) position and serves in an advanced role. 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 as well as participating in the programmatic development and advanced support of the facility-wide telehealth program. 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. Certification: None. 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. 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: Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical), GS-7 (Advanced) Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs. Ability to use independent technical judgment to analyze, evaluate and resolve problems. Knowledge of quality control and assurance procedures and principles of performance improvement. Ability to function effectively between competing priorities. Knowledge of proper maintenance and troubleshooting of telehealth equipment. Ability to work with a team to provide technical guidance, plan, organize and coordinate activities of a health technician in order to effectively complete job duties of assignment such as distributing workload, monitoring the status and progress of work, monitoring accuracy of work. Ability to assist in Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) development, outcome management and strategic planning. Ability to perform successful knowledge transfer regarding the use of telehealth technologies. Assignment. At the Advanced Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) level, the incumbent will monitor and capture workload credit, develop reporting procedures and participate in performance improvement activities aimed at improving patient care access and Telehealth processes. This would include; sampling techniques, taking measurements at various points in the telehealth process; and develop and provide reporting procedures that identifies and analyzes inherent weaknesses in work and telehealth procedures. The incumbent will coordinate and work with Biomed and IT staff for the installation and upgrade of hardware and software for all telehealth technologies; will be responsible for advanced telehealth technical support to patients, staff and providers; provides technical consultation and support for staff and patients via phone, web chat, social media and face to face sessions; provides instruction, training and resources on the use of advanced telehealth technologies to patients, staff and providers alike for the delivery of care using telehealth technologies. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher level duties must consist of significant scope, complexity (difficulty) and range of variety and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. References: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G50 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-7. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-7. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019. ["Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required The Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) - Advanced provides high level support, training, and advanced management of 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. Primary responsibilities of the incumbent include: delivering established telehealth competency-based training for clinicians and telehealth staff members. Supports clinical telehealth encounters for both the patient and provider locations by serving as the telepresenter within scope of practice, functioning as an imager and supporting clinical data for telehealth store and forward applications, managing real time clinical telehealth events, providing established patient education, and providing technical and administrative support of telehealth operations. Duties of the position include, but are not limited to: Coordinate, install, maintain and manage the inventory of telehealth technologies including hardware and software with assistance of Biomed and IT. Provide established standardized competency-based training, guidance and information on the use of advanced telehealth technologies to patients, staff, and providers. Provide established standardized competency-based training for telehealth technology, facilitating interactive simulations for clinical staff participating in telehealth programs. Participate in performance improvement activities aimed at improving the efficiency of the patient telehealth processes. Develop reporting procedures, sampling techniques and measurements at various points in the telehealth processes to identify/analyze inherent weaknesses in work and procedures. Coordinate clinic set up and monitoring of workload capture and issues for assigned patient and provider clinics including telehealth resource-based scheduling. Support designated complex telehealth programs that require advanced technical skillsets. Prepare the clinical environment, which may include preparing medical and telecommunications equipment to be used for clinical examination and treatment. Serve 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. Serve as an imager and manager of clinical data 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. Take 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. Complete 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. Receive and scheduling requests for simple and complex intra-facility, and inter-facility telehealth appointments using an electronic resource-based scheduling system. Refer patients to providers for screening for Telehealth. Monitor and maintaining schedules of rooms, patients, technologies, clinical providers and presenters as needed to ensure efficient telehealth operations. Provide patient education via approved materials. Communicate effectively with clinical and administrative staff at the assigned local site and those located at remote sites of care. Coordinate and/or directly configuring, installing, troubleshooting, inventory management, cleaning, and performing minor routine maintenance of assigned telehealth technology. Ensure 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. Provide 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. Arrange and complete test video calls with Veterans to prepare the Veterans for clinical encounters using telehealth technologies. Other duties as assigned by management."]

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