Summary This Health Tech (Telehealth) position is located within the Primary Care service of the VA Providence Healthcare System. This position is full-time at 40 hours per week. Responsibilities The Lead Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) provides direct leadership to a team of Telehealth Clinical Technicians as well as leading initiatives designed to improve the delivery of care to Veterans using telehealth. Duties include, but are not limited to: Leading a team of telehealth staff by providing guidance and technical direction relating to the telehealth program; Distributing and balancing workload and tasks among employees in accordance with established workflow and/or job specialization and required rotations; Giving on-the-job training to new employees (local and at the CBOC sites); Monitoring and reporting on the status and progress of work to ensure that the supervisor's instructions on work priorities, methods, deadlines and quality have been met; providing information to the supervisor concerning promotions, reassignment, recognition of outstanding performance, and personnel needs; Resolving simple, informal complaints of employees and referring others, such as formal grievances and appeals, to the supervisor or an appropriate management official; Identifying and recommending ways of eliminating, combining, simplifying procedures and processes of the telehealth program; Independently reviewing quality and performance data (e.g. patient satisfaction surveys, image quality, performance metrics, clinic wait times) for Telehealth programs effectiveness and satisfaction and developing process improvements as required; Developing and coordinating a wide variety of standard operating procedures with full and complete technical advice to ensure telehealth operations are timely, efficient, and appropriate; Maintaining national certification and serving as a Telehealth Preceptor to independently plan and carry out standardized developed training in accordance with established telehealth program policies and directives; Conducting reviews to ensure technologies and systems are functioning prior to training and that trainees have completed prerequisites; Maintain knowledge of current standard practices; Maintaining responsibility for facility inventory management and registering and maintaining telehealth end points and scheduling of multi-point video conference calls in the Telepresence Management System or other similar application; Developing reporting procedures, sampling techniques and measurements at various points in the telehealth processes to identify/analyze inherent weaknesses in work and procedures and advises others as to trends in the processes of patient telehealth services; coordinating clinic set up and monitoring of workload capture and issues for all telehealth clinics and sites, to include interfacility workload; Preparing the clinical environment, which may include preparing medical and telecommunications equipment to be used for clinical examination and treatment; Serving as a tele-presenter, within scope of practice, during clinical video telehealth (CVT) and VVC encounters including tasks; 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 VHA national guidelines; Other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday. 7:30am-4:00pm Telework: Ad-Hoc. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: F03153 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized. Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required. Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees. Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held. This position is a LIUNA Bargaining Unit position. This position is covered by locality-based comparability pay. The incumbent may be required to travel to other VA campuses and CBOC's. Narrative responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) may be required from the selectee in order to proceed with the appointment. 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. You may be required to serve a probationary period. Subject to background/security investigation. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Must pass pre-employment physical examination. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details. Qualifications 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. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED) OR Experience/Education Combination. Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED) 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. Grade Determinations: In addition to meeting the basic requirements, applicants must also meet the grade requirements to be found qualified for this position. Lead Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical), GS-8. Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level. (GS-7) AND, Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs. Ability to work with a team to provide technical guidance, plan, organize and coordinate activities of a Health Technician (Telehealth Clinical) in order to effectively complete job duties of assignment such as distributing workload, monitoring the status and progress of work, monitoring accuracy of work. Skill in leadership and interpersonal relations and conflict resolution to deal with employees, team leaders, providers, and managers. Ability to communicate effectively in order to meet program objectives. This may include preparing reports in various formats and presenting data to various organizational levels. Knowledge of quality control and assurance procedures and principles of performance improvement. Skill in the assessment and resolution of complex workload capture issues using multiple data sources. Ability to develop and compose complex written instructions. Knowledge of analytical and evaluative processes to independently resolve complex issues. Preferred Experience: Telehealth and training experience, maintaining certification as a telehealth preceptor, and monitoring/reporting status on progress of work. References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/96 PART II APPENDIX G50 Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019. 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: 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 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. Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process. 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.