Summary

The Incumbent is a staff Health Technician-Audiology under the supervision of a staff Audiologist. This position is located in the Audiology Service at the Fayetteville Health Care Clinic (FHCC) in Fayetteville - North Carolina. The duties and responsibilities are to be carried out in all clinical and other patient care areas involved with the Audiology service. The Health Technician supports the function of the clinical programs in Audiology.

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
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English GS-06 Requirements: Experience
• Completion of one year of progressive experience and/or experience equivalent to the next lower GS-05 grade level directly related to the position being filled
• Required demonstrated Knowledge - Skills and Abilities
• In addition to the experience above - the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: (a) Knowledge of normal and abnormal ear anatomy
• (b) Knowledge of hearing physiology and function to educate patients and families
• (c) Knowledge of hearing aids - hearing assistive technology - hearing aid manufacturers and manufacturer software
• (d) Ability to solve problems or make decisions regarding hearing aid - hearing assistive technology and patient care - consistent with the documented and co-signed plan of care under the supervision of an audiologist
• (e) Ability to prepare patients for testing procedures
• (f) Ability to document and code patient procedures
• 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)
• References: VA Handbook 5005/143 PART II APPENDIX G70 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-06
• Physical Requirements: Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for the occupation - see Duties section for essential job duties of the position
• May require standing - lifting - carrying - sitting - stooping - bending - pulling - and pushing
• May be required to wear personal protective equipment
• See VA Directive and Handbook 501.

Duties

• Primary responsibility is for patient care - supporting diagnostic and treatment procedures - patient charting and patient education - which do not require a full professional audiology education or knowledge and skills represented by audiology licensure
• Support functions include both direct patient care and administrative duties
• Direct patient care duties may include - but are not limited to the following: Hearing aid troubleshooting and repair
• performing visual and auditory checks of hearing aids and hearing assistive technology - including all hearing aid accessories as well as alerting devices (troubleshoots performance)
• fabricating earmold impressions with proper (non-diagnostic) otoscopy
• ordering earmolds based on plan of care through prosthetics or Denver Acquisition and Logistics Center (DALC) and fitting and modifying earmolds - if necessary
• providing basic hearing aid information for patients and caregivers consistent with the audiologist's treatment plan - including but not limited to - realistic expectations - communication strategies - and/or aural rehabilitation
• assisting in set up and delivery of face-to-face and telehealth visits by preparing the equipment for patient evaluation and other audiology procedures including - but not limited to - daily biologic listening calibration of audiometric equipment and calibration of real-ear equipment
• assisting patients with hearing aid connectivity including - but not limited - to downloading applications (apps) - pairing devices in the app - Bluetooth pairing - and pairing hearing aid accessories
• The incumbent is responsible for ensuring timely and accurate documentation of all interactions in the medical records and that all encounters are correctly documented using electronic medical record and computerized tracking and ordering functions via ROES
• The Health Technician completes documentation per medical center policy for timeliness for each episode of care and codes procedures as appropriate in the patient record in preparation for co-signature by the audiologist
• Work Schedule: Monday-Friday - 8:00am - 4:30pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required