Qualifications

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:

• English Language Proficiency
• Candidates 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
• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy
• Education and Experience: Associates or higher degree in the biomedical technology or biomedical engineering field
• OR Associates or higher degree in electronics, a field of information technology, or engineering (other than biomedical engineering) AND 1 year of creditable experience
• OR Completion of the Department of Defense (DOD) biomedical equipment technician training program
• OR Completion of a DOD training program in repair and maintenance of electronic systems or information technology AND 1 year of creditable experience
• OR Completion of a biomedical engineering technician or Healthcare Technology Management (HTM) certificate program that included an internship or apprenticeship
• OR Completion of biomedical engineering technician or HTM certificate program that did not include an internship AND 1 year of creditable experience
• OR Hold or having ever held certification as a Certified Biomedical Equipment Technician (CBET), Certified Radiology Equipment Specialist (CRES), Certified Laboratory Equipment Specialist (CLES), or Certified Healthcare Technology Manager (CHTM)
• Continuous maintenance of certification is not required throughout VHA employment
• Physical Requirements
• See VA Directive and Handbook 5019
• 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)
• Grandfathering Provision: The following is the standard grandfathering policy for all Title 38 Hybrid qualification standards
• Some of these provisions may not apply to this occupation
• Please carefully review the qualification standard to determine the specific education and/or licensure/certification/ registration requirements that apply to this occupation
• Employees in VHA in this occupation, under a permanent, appropriate, and legal placement on the effective date of the qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the grade and assignment held including positive education and certification
• For employees who do not meet all the basic or assignment-specific requirements in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed, the following provisions apply: (1) Employees may be reassigned, promoted up to and including the full performance (journey) level, or be changed to a lower grade within the occupation, but they may not be promoted beyond the journey level or be newly placed in supervisory or managerial positions
• (2) Employees 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
• (3) Employees retained in this occupation under this provision who subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of re-entry to the occupation
• Grade Determinations: Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist (Information Systems), GS-12
• (1) Experience
• One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade
• (2) Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
• In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: (a) Knowledge of Health Level 7 (HL7) and Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) standards
• (b) Knowledge of advanced testing methods to troubleshoot networked medical equipment and clinical system interfaces
• (c) Skill in maintaining computer and server based medical equipment, databases, and software
• (d) Skill in managing medical equipment and clinical system projects that interface with an electronic health record or other information systems
• (e) Skill in applying cybersecurity standards to medical devices and clinical systems such as Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA), and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) guidelines
• (f) Ability to apply information security tools including virus protection, software updates, and operating system patches
• (g) Ability to establish a medical network including VLAN configuration, Internet Protocol addressing, and network security
• Assignment: For all assignments above the FPL, the higher-level duties must be of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity, and range of variety, as described in this standard at the specific grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time
• At the advanced level, the BESS, in addition to the duties at the FPL, manage medical servers and networks, diagnostic software, virtual platforms, and clinical applications software
• They manage projects for medical equipment and clinical systems that interface with the electronic health record or other information systems
• BESSs (Information Systems) manage virtual and physical hardware components including storage, memory, processing, graphical, and network interfaces
• They facilitate operating system updates, upgrades, and virus protection
• BESSs (Information Systems) perform maintenance for networked systems
• They leverage resources and knowledge to minimize the need for unit and intermediate-level service contracts and manufacturer or vendor expenditures for tasks that can be completed in-house
• BESSs (Information Systems) identify and troubleshoot issues related to networked medical equipment and clinical systems
• They evaluate compatibility and adaptability of biomedical devices for integration to the electronic health record
• BESSs (Information Systems) regularly review, coordinate, and implement available software patches, updates, and system or data backups with other BESSs, manufacturers, informatics, and IT staff
• They are responsible for compliance with physical security, privacy, and information standards and infrastructure standards
• BESSs (Information Systems) ensure compliance of networked clinical systems to all Medical Device Protection Program (MDPP) requirements
• They design, implement, and manage appropriate security measures and disaster recovery plans critical to ensure system uptime and prevent loss of patient data from critical medical equipment and clinical systems???????
• Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/
• Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment
• A pre-placement physical examination is not required.