What are the responsibilities and job description for the Health Technician position at Jonathan M Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center?
The incumbent serves as a Health Technician in the Laboratory for the VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic in Lewiston, Idaho. This position is full-time, permanent.
This occupational series (0809) has an Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR). An IOR is a basic requirement that must be met in order to qualify for the Construction Control Technician occupational series. All applicants, regardless of grade level must meet minimum specialized experience requirements. Applicants must meet the following requirements. Positions in this series range widely in type and include support duties to medical or health personnel such as audiologists, speech pathologists, medical officers, and optometrists. Therefore, technician experience is experience that required application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques of the position to be filled. OR Education for GS-5: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree, with major study or at least 24 semester hours in subjects directly related to the position.
You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:
For GS-05 level:
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/.
Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Operations (70%):
-Serve as key contact for veterans and beneficiaries seeking diagnostic services, experiencing problems, and/or requesting information.
-Determine veteran eligibility/entitlement for numerous diagnostic services with diverse and frequently vague requirements.
-Serve in an administrative assistant capacity involved with screening, advising and assisting veterans who come into the clinic seeking medical treatment.
-Acts as an administrative assistant to professional staff, ensuring clinical staff are relieved of clerical/administrative duties, providing full, complete, technical advice, administrative support, training, guidance, problem solving/resolution for efficient coordination of diagnostic services.
-Serve as liaison and resource person between supportive staff, clinicians, veterans, families, law enforcement, medical or public agencies, utilizing independent judgement as interpreted from guidelines for decisions.
-Responsible for developing and coordinating wide variety of team policies/procedures with full and complete technical advice, support, authority to administratively support diagnostic service activities, continually adjusting to effect necessary change.
-Interprets providers' orders, requests for laboratory testing, follow-up paperwork, paperwork for fee or contractual agreement with appointment notifications to veteran/clinic staff.
-Coordinates Pathology & Laboratory Medicine scheduling activities, including maintenance of detailed clinic profiles for diagnostic services.
-Continually alert for any irregularities and practices by health care providers and/or veterans that are not in keeping with Service policy/criteria indicating errors.
-Maintains and compiles daily statistical data for submission of reports for local, regional office, Central office, and national use for program administration.
-Performs a range of direct care duties that include but not limited to glucometer testing, COVID collections and testing and venipunctures.
Diagnostic Processing & Testing Duties (20%):
--Performs primarily waived testing and moderate-complexity procedures in the areas such as but not limited to chemistry (including special chemistry and toxicology), hematology, coagulation, urinalysis.
-Develops, performs, evaluates, interprets, correlates, validates the accuracy of laboratory procedures and results.
-Perform work related to tests and examinations using the techniques of medical laboratory practice in one or more specialized areas.
-Processes diagnostic specimens using centrifuge techniques that are necessary to prepare samples for specific analysis controls physical conditions; responds to time factors to ensure that physiologic state of the specimen is maintained.
Collateral Duties (10%):
--Safety Representative, Timekeeper, Control Point Clerk, pipette calibration, timer, and thermometer calibration are some of the examples of additional duties.
Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level.
Work Schedule: Monday-Friday; 7:30am-4:00pm
Telework: Not Authorized
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Health Technician/PD80399A and PD80397A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Physical Requirements: The work involves various physical demands requiring the employee to be versatile in the many functions performed. These include sedentary work performed at a desk with intermittent standing, walking, bending, lifting, stooping, and stretching. When transferring patients, providing patient care, the employee must practice good body mechanics to prevent injury to self and others. The demands may be unpredictable requiring the incumbent to adjust accordingly. Requires the ability to work under pressure, make sound decisions, and maintain composure in different situations if necessary. Work is performed at a fast pace. In many situations the duration of the activity (such as most of a workday) contributes to the arduous nature of the job. Position requires occasional lifting of reagent and supply containers weighing up to 20 pounds.
Qualifications:
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the date of this announcement, 06/11/2026.This occupational series (0809) has an Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR). An IOR is a basic requirement that must be met in order to qualify for the Construction Control Technician occupational series. All applicants, regardless of grade level must meet minimum specialized experience requirements. Applicants must meet the following requirements. Positions in this series range widely in type and include support duties to medical or health personnel such as audiologists, speech pathologists, medical officers, and optometrists. Therefore, technician experience is experience that required application of the knowledge, methods, and techniques of the position to be filled. OR Education for GS-5: Successful completion of a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree, with major study or at least 24 semester hours in subjects directly related to the position.
You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:
For GS-05 level:
- SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-04 level or pay band in the Federal service that includes performing the following duties: clinical support under direct supervision of the Clinical Staff; knowledge of medical terminology, especially laboratory test names and specimen requirements based on tests ordered; knowledge of human anatomy as it relates to phlebotomy and impact on laboratory testing; knowledge of impact of drawing above or below an IV, mastectomy or fistula site, and knowledge of vein selection for optimal results. OR,
- EDUCATION (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED): Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed a full 4-year course of study leading to a bachelor's degree, with major study or at least 24 semester hours in subjects directly related to the position. This education must have been obtained in an accredited business or technical school, junior college, college or university for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. OR,
- COMBINATION: EXPERIENCE AND EDUCATION: (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED): Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have successfully completed post-high school education (beyond the second year) and specialized experience, as described above, which meet the total qualification requirements for this grade level. This education must have been obtained at an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college, or university.
- SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-05 level or pay band in the Federal service that includes performing the following duties: phlebotomy techniques such as capillary collection, blood culture collection, and venipuncture utilizing a syringe, butterfly, or vacutainer collection system; receiving and following through on patient requests for service, obtaining and reviewing patient medical records regarding clinic appointments, scheduling patient appointments, and determining eligibility for clinic appointments; recognizing and properly processing specimens using equipment and supplies in a variety of diagnostic procedures for the purpose of carrying out specimen collection, processing, or testing; evaluates operations, analyzes, and provides problem trend data, solutions, offers recommendations to all levels of management; adept at combining knowledge and use resourcefulness, initiative, and judgment in following standard operating procedures and resolving problems, and knowledge of electronic medical records and hospital/laboratory computer systems is needed to promptly access correct lab orders, build lists, cancel tests, and add tests. OR,
- EDUCATION (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED): As a general rule, education is not creditable above GS-5 for most positions covered by this standard; however, graduate education may be credited in those few instances where the graduate education is directly related to the work of the position. Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully nine (9) credit hours of graduate education that is directly related to the duties of the position.
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/.
Responsibilities:
Major Duties include, but are not limited to:Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Operations (70%):
-Serve as key contact for veterans and beneficiaries seeking diagnostic services, experiencing problems, and/or requesting information.
-Determine veteran eligibility/entitlement for numerous diagnostic services with diverse and frequently vague requirements.
-Serve in an administrative assistant capacity involved with screening, advising and assisting veterans who come into the clinic seeking medical treatment.
-Acts as an administrative assistant to professional staff, ensuring clinical staff are relieved of clerical/administrative duties, providing full, complete, technical advice, administrative support, training, guidance, problem solving/resolution for efficient coordination of diagnostic services.
-Serve as liaison and resource person between supportive staff, clinicians, veterans, families, law enforcement, medical or public agencies, utilizing independent judgement as interpreted from guidelines for decisions.
-Responsible for developing and coordinating wide variety of team policies/procedures with full and complete technical advice, support, authority to administratively support diagnostic service activities, continually adjusting to effect necessary change.
-Interprets providers' orders, requests for laboratory testing, follow-up paperwork, paperwork for fee or contractual agreement with appointment notifications to veteran/clinic staff.
-Coordinates Pathology & Laboratory Medicine scheduling activities, including maintenance of detailed clinic profiles for diagnostic services.
-Continually alert for any irregularities and practices by health care providers and/or veterans that are not in keeping with Service policy/criteria indicating errors.
-Maintains and compiles daily statistical data for submission of reports for local, regional office, Central office, and national use for program administration.
-Performs a range of direct care duties that include but not limited to glucometer testing, COVID collections and testing and venipunctures.
Diagnostic Processing & Testing Duties (20%):
--Performs primarily waived testing and moderate-complexity procedures in the areas such as but not limited to chemistry (including special chemistry and toxicology), hematology, coagulation, urinalysis.
-Develops, performs, evaluates, interprets, correlates, validates the accuracy of laboratory procedures and results.
-Perform work related to tests and examinations using the techniques of medical laboratory practice in one or more specialized areas.
-Processes diagnostic specimens using centrifuge techniques that are necessary to prepare samples for specific analysis controls physical conditions; responds to time factors to ensure that physiologic state of the specimen is maintained.
Collateral Duties (10%):
--Safety Representative, Timekeeper, Control Point Clerk, pipette calibration, timer, and thermometer calibration are some of the examples of additional duties.
Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level.
Work Schedule: Monday-Friday; 7:30am-4:00pm
Telework: Not Authorized
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Health Technician/PD80399A and PD80397A
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Physical Requirements: The work involves various physical demands requiring the employee to be versatile in the many functions performed. These include sedentary work performed at a desk with intermittent standing, walking, bending, lifting, stooping, and stretching. When transferring patients, providing patient care, the employee must practice good body mechanics to prevent injury to self and others. The demands may be unpredictable requiring the incumbent to adjust accordingly. Requires the ability to work under pressure, make sound decisions, and maintain composure in different situations if necessary. Work is performed at a fast pace. In many situations the duration of the activity (such as most of a workday) contributes to the arduous nature of the job. Position requires occasional lifting of reagent and supply containers weighing up to 20 pounds.
Salary : $40,736