Health Technician (Audiology)

This position exists within the Audiology Service for the Kansas City Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Excelsior Springs, Missouri. The duties and responsibilities are 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.

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. In addition, the incumbent must be able to mentor and train new health technicians (Audiology).

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Duties may include, but are not limited to the following:

1. Greeting and escorting patients;
2. Triaging patients to an audiologist based on complexity of the procedures being completed;
3. Patient instruction and counseling on hearing loss or hearing aids either on an individual basis or in a group setting;
4. Conducting hearing pass/fail screenings without interpretation;
5. Non-diagnostic otoscopy;
6. Cerumen management;
7. Taking earmold impressions;
8. Hearing aid troubleshooting and repair;
9. Providing basic hearing aid information for patients and caregivers;
10. Performing listening checks on hearing aids;
11. Electroacoustic analysis of devices;
12. Pairing hearing aids and accessories via Bluetooth technology
13. Programming previously stored settings into hearing aids;
14. Activating remote controls.
15. Patient set up and delivery of face to face and telehealth visits by preparing the equipment for patient evaluation and other audiology procedures.
16. Managing office supplies;
17. Tracking loaner stock hearing aid inventory;
18. Electronic ordering, verifying orders upon arrival to ensure components are present and working correctly;
19. Scheduling appointments;
20. Packaging and mailing hearing aids and accessories;
21. Processing ROES transactions (e.g. certifying and issuing hearing aids, entering orders and repairs);
22. Responding to routine inquiries from patients, including determining nature of hearing aid inquiry and responding to administrative questions;
23. Assisting patients, visitors, and others requesting information;
24. Management of infection control, patient safety, and clinical supplies for the audiology clinic;
25. Maintenance of clean, disinfected instrumentation, equipment, and work surfaces in the audiology clinic;
26. Reprocessing reusable medical equipment based on facility policy according to Medical Center infection control procedures and reusable medical equipment policies.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:30am-4:00pm CST
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 #: 000000

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 and Education:
  • Experience: Six months of experience comparable to the next lower level which demonstrates the knowledge, skills and abilities related to the duties of the position to be filled.
  • OR
  • Education: Successful completion of two academic years above high school leading to an associate degree or a bachelor's degree with at least 12 semester hours in courses related to the position.
  • OR
  • Experience and Education Combination :Equivalent combinations of experience and education are qualifying. An example of a combination of experience/education is three months of experience comparable to the next lower level which demonstrates the knowledge, skills and abilities related to the duties of the position to be filled and one year above high school with a minimum of 6 semester hours related to the health care industry.

Grandfathering Provision: 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).All individuals employed in VHA in this occupational series or in another occupational series performing the duties as described in the qualification standard on the effective date of the qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the grade held including positive education and licensure/trademark/registration/certification. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements required in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply:

• They may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level, or changed to lower grade within the occupation, but may not be promoted beyond the journey level or placed in supervisory or managerial positions.
• If an HTA, HTSLP or HTASLP who was retained under this provision leaves the occupation, the employee will lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of re-entry to the occupation.
• HTAs, HTSLPs or HTASLPs who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis, until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.
• Employees initially grandfathered into this occupation, who subsequently obtain additional education and/or licensure/certification/registration that meet all the basic requirements of this qualification standard must maintain the required credentials as a condition of employment in the occupation.

Grade Determination for GS-7:

Experience: Completion of one year of progressive experience and/or experience equivalent to the next lower grade level directly related to the position being filled.

AND

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs):In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

• Ability to mentor and train new HTAs.
• Ability to prepare patients for advanced testing procedures performed by the audiologist, such as evoked potentials.
• Ability to develop and implement the technician role for a program in a focused area of audiology.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The position is above the full performance level.

Physical Requirements: Position requires vision in both eyes with ability to distinguish colors and shades; ability to hear; use of arms, legs, and fingers; ability to walk and stand for 6-8 hours per day; repeated bending; ability to manage outside and inside environments; ability to tolerate fumes and odors; work closely with others and/or work alone; assist patient care using safe approved modalities. Desk work, computer work, patient care work, work with audiology machinery and parts.

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/.

• 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 identification 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 1 or 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.