This position is located under the Clinical Engineering service of the Pittsburgh VA Healthcare System. The Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist (BESS) (Biomedical Information Systems) provides clinical and administrative support to staff, patients, and administrators for all matters of concern relating to the facility wide lifecycle management of networks, networked medical equipment and associated systems.
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. English Language Proficiency: Per VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, Paragraph 3j: No person will be appointed under authority of 38 U.S.C., chapter 73 or 74, to serve in a direct patient-care capacity in VHA who is not proficient in written and spoken English. Experience and Education- 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. 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). Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, candidates must meet the following grade-determining criteria for placement at grade levels specified. GS-12 Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist (Biomedical Information Systems) - Experience: In addition to meet the basic requirements, you must also have one year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Experience includes managing medical equipment and clinical systems including installation, planned maintenance, troubleshooting, repair, calibrations, electrical safety inspections, patient safety, cybersecurity, and decommissioning. Planning, implementing, and providing technical and project oversight for medical equipment and clinical systems. Developing technical requirements, drafting RFP language, sole-source justifications, and statements of work. Conduct market research, product evaluations, evaluate contractor performance, and conduct pre-procurement assessments. Serve as a Contracting Officer Representative (COR) or Contracting Officer Technical Representative (COTR) to purchase medical equipment, maintenance and repair contracts, and facility projects as needed. BESSs at this level conduct pre-purchase evaluations and address pre-implementation security issues to ensure medical device isolation architecture requirements are met. They consult with and advise clinical and administrative staff in evaluating medical equipment and clinical systems proposed for purchase. BESSs perform incoming inspections on medical equipment and systems to determine that all safety regulations, manufacturer's specifications, contract requirements, and needs of users are met, and they initiate corrective action when necessary. Provide instruction and guidance to end users on proper use and care of equipment including operator-level maintenance of equipment and accessories. BESSs partner with customers to determine the nature and scope of the customer's issues and needs, provide an appropriate response and applicable solutions, and ensure the customer is apprised of delays and significant steps until completion. Ensure inventory accuracy of networked medical equipment and clinical systems to identify and mitigate cybersecurity vulnerabilities. Responsibility for monitoring system backups; data integrity; ensuring network connectivity between systems, servers, databases, and the electronic medical record; and maintain systems security and standards. In the event of a system failure, BESSs reload operating systems and clinical application software and interface with IT to keep systems operational. Use schematic drawings, wiring diagrams, and manufacturer service literature as guidelines to accomplish work. BESSs use specialized electronic test equipment or software to analyze, evaluate, diagnose, troubleshoot, calibrate, or repair analog and digital microprocessor controlled, computerized, or networked digital systems. BESSs coordinate and manage vendor services and review work performed to ensure defined specifications are met and documented. Respond appropriately to hazard alerts and recall notifications concerning medical equipment. Investigate equipment incidents, cases of equipment damage and abuse, equipment failure reports that cannot be duplicated, and medical device security incidents. BESSs at this level determine when health care technology, instrumentation, or systems are obsolete, hazardous, or no longer cost-effective to maintain. Ensure proper disposal of medical equipment and clinical systems including removal of PHI and hazardous materials. Document all activities and ensure the data are correctly entered into the CMMS. Ensure compliance with all applicable standards, policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements such as NFPA, FDA, NRC, TJC, and the AAMI. - Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following: Knowledge of Health Level 7 (HL7) and Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) standards. Knowledge of advanced testing methods to troubleshoot networked medical equipment and clinical system interfaces. Skill in maintaining computer and server based medical equipment, databases, and software. Skill in managing medical equipment and clinical system projects that interface with an electronic health record or other information systems. 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. Ability to apply information security tools including virus protection, software updates, and operating system patches. Ability to establish a medical network including VLAN configuration, Internet Protocol addressing, and network security. Preferred Experience: 1. Current knowledge of computer virus protection software, available software patches and upgrades, and information security tools. 2. Expert knowledge of electronics, computer and networking theory with experience maintaining, interfacing and troubleshooting networked medical equipment to include VLAN configuration, IP addressing, subnetting, and network security. 3. Ability to utilize and maintain computer and server based medical equipment, medical record databases, and proprietary and generic software, Experience with TCP/IP, HL7, networking, network security, and DICOM standards. 4. Ability to interpret, identify, and apply network engineering principles and practices where there often times is no previous example to follow, or precedence. 5. Skill to distinguish networking problems from non-networking and discuss various options with IT networking and operations staff members Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is 11. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-12.
The duties of this position include but are not limited to the following: - Manages and maintains medical servers and networks, diagnostic software, virtual platforms, and clinical applications software. - Manages projects involving medical equipment and clinical systems, to include procurement, installation, and maintenance. - Manages hardware components of virtual servers, physical servers, and medical workstations. - Facilitates operating system updates, upgrades, and virus protection. - Identifies, troubleshoots, and completes corrective action for issues related to networked medical equipment and clinical systems. - Evaluates compatibility and adaptability of medical equipment and clinical systems to integrate with the electronic health record or other clinical systems. - Reviews, coordinates, and implements available software patches, updates, and system/data backups with staff and manufacturers. - Coordinates, implements, and manages cybersecurity measures and disaster recovery plans. - Effectively responds to, investigates, and documents cybersecurity incidents involving medical equipment and clinical systems. - Responds to and remediates hazard alerts, recall notifications, and incidents concerning medical equipment and clinical systems. Documents all actions in the appropriate system. - Monitors cybersecurity metrics, and initiates corrective action to address deficiencies. - Complies with networked medical equipment and clinical systems are inventoried in the appropriate database. - Serves as a subject matter expert on assigned committees, projects, and workgroups. - Manages the lifecycle of medical equipment and clinical systems. - Troubleshoots medical equipment and clinical systems using a variety of technical data and completes corrective action. - Performs incoming inspections and planned maintenance on medical equipment and clinical systems. - Documents all work in the Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS). - Utilizes test equipment in accordance with manufacturer instructions. - Provides customer support to staff, evaluates issues and needs, responds with solutions, and keeps customers abreast of status. - Educates staff on the safe operation and user-level maintenance of medical equipment and clinical systems. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm Compressed/Flexible: Not Authorized Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #:000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized