Physician Informaticist Jobs

Duties

As a partner with the Office of Information and Technology (OI&T), other VA programs, and VHA program offices, OHI brings together VHA staff expertise from various disciplines to improve coordination, communication, standardization, and oversight of VHA information-management capabilities. CIDMO manages capabilities and standards that support clinical care. It has an expert staff of engineers in domains of knowledge representation and system and product design and other experts in product management of IT systems, project management, and change management.

With both clinical and technical expertise, each physician informaticist performs and leads most of the following functions while acting in a range of roles. Functions include leadership and execution of: requirement translation between clinical and technical staff, functional design of technical solutions, creation and implementation of knowledge artifacts, creation of strategic plans and innovations, change management, workforce development, system (workflow) design, standards creation, policy creation/refinement, and value assessment. Roles include functional architect product manager, program leader, communicator, and the person who gets things done.

• Establishes and streamlines processes, reporting structures, and oversight for national deployment of clinical information systems including COTS, GOTS;
• Interacts with senior VA clinical and technical staff, and represents VHA in briefings, presentations, or discussions on substantive electronic health records interoperability and VA data;
• Manages and executes communication modality(ies) within Health Informatics, between VHA program offices, and OIT;
• Provides expertise in Clinical Informatics in areas such as gap analysis, deployment, implementation and training;
• Represents the interests of VHA interfacing with other offices, departments, agencies, organizations, and groups, both public and private, in various interagency collaborations;
• Participates in developing VHA strategic plans regarding information management and clinical IT systems.
• Acts as a liaison and advocate for the enterprise to understand and meet the informatics needs of the stakeholders including the end users;
• Works as a clinical champion to maximize the impact of health informatics services to improve patient outcomes in VHA;
• Engages actively in clinical system testing, implementation, and performance monitoring activities;
• Works with the VISN CMO's, CHIO's and CIOs, clinical advisory groups, and field clinicians in all disciplines to establish priorities for activities associated with health information systems. Collaborates similarly with members of equivalent organizations within the federal and private sector/ healthcare organizations;
• Participates in the execution of the deployment and implementation of electronic health record systems or capabilities and ensures they are aligned in such a way to support interoperability, sharing of health data and security requirements as defined by the clinical communities;
• Executes expert knowledge of how information systems impact users and Veterans;
• Determines health related outcomes that can be influenced by system capabilities and performance and integrates these outcomes into system performance measurement program;
• Ensures that clinical practice, health care delivery, and informatics issues are all considered as part of collaborative ventures;
• Consults with VACO-level Program Offices such as Patient Care Services (PCS), the Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Operations and Management (DUSHOM) to better understand business needs, collaborate/ coordinate work priorities, and identify goals for informatics support;
• Participates as assigned in various committees with representation by senior management officials from Federal, State or private sector
• Assesses workflow integration issues related to system design and recommends changes as necessary;

Pay: Competitive salary, annual performance bonus, regular salary increases

Paid Time Off: 50-55 days of paid time off per year (26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year and possible 5 day paid absence for CME)

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)

Licensure: 1 full and unrestricted license from any US State or territory

CME: Possible $1,000 per year reimbursement (must be full-time with board certification)

Malpractice: Free liability protection with tail coverage provided

Contract: No Physician Employment Contract and no significant restriction on moonlighting

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8am - 4:30pm

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• 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.
• U.S. Citizenship; non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• You may be required to serve a probationary period.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

• Residency Training: Physicians must have completed residency training, approved by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in an accredited core specialty training program leading to eligibility for board certification. (NOTE: VA physicians involved in academic training programs may be required to be board certified for faculty status.) Approved residencies are: (1) Those approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), b) OR [(2) Those approved by the American Osteopathic Association (AOA),OR
• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Degree of doctor of medicine or an equivalent degree resulting from a course of education in medicine or osteopathic medicine. The degree must have been obtained from one of the schools approved by the Department of Veterans Affairs for the year in which the course of study was completed.
• Current, full and unrestricted license to practice medicine or surgery in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or in the District of Columbia.
• Other residencies (non-US residency training programs followed by a minimum of five years of verified practice in the United States), which the local Medical Staff Executive Committee deems to have provided the applicant with appropriate professional training and believes has exposed the physician to an appropriate range of patient care experiences.

Residents currently enrolled in ACGME/AOA accredited residency training programs and who would otherwise meet the basic requirements for appointment are eligible to be appointed as "Physician Resident Providers" (PRPs). PRPs must be fully licensed physicians (i.e., not a training license) and may only be appointed on an intermittent or fee-basis. PRPs are not considered independent practitioners and will not be privileged; rather, they are to have a "scope of practice" that allows them to perform certain restricted duties under supervision. Additionally, surgery residents in gap years may also be appointed as PRPs.

• Proficiency in spoken and written English.

Preferred Experience:

• Five years experience with engaging partnerships with multi-discipline clinical providers or networks contributing to strategic approaches to optimize clinical outcomes, patient safety and knowledge management.
• Five years demonstrable critical understanding of the integrated processes of EHR/EMR systems and associated applications and workflows that support use within multifaceted clinical settings.
• Five years of in-depth involvement with extracting, curating, and analyzing multi-layered data created within the HIT and healthcare delivery ecosystem to support clinical informatics.

Reference: VA Regulations, specifically VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G-2 Physician Qualification Standard. This can be found in the local Human Resources Office.

Physical Requirements: Work is primarily sedentary in nature.

Education

Approved Schools Are

Degree of Doctor of Medicine or an equivalent degree resulting from a course of education in allopathic medicine or osteopathic medicine. The degree must have been obtained from an institution whose accreditation was in place for the year in which the course of study was completed.

• For foreign medical graduates not covered in (1) or (2) above, facility officials must verify with the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) that the applicant has met requirements for certification, and must obtain a copy of the ECFMG certificate, if claimed by the applicant. [If the applicant does not claim an ECFMG certificate, facility officials must still confirm that the medical school meets (or met) ECFMG eligibility requirements for the year the candidate graduated.]
• Schools of medicine accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) for the year in which the degree was granted, or
• Schools of osteopathic medicine approved by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation of the American Osteopathic Association for the year in which the degree was granted.

NOTE: The Under Secretary of Health or designee in the VHA Central Office may approve the appointment under authority of 38 U.S.C.

• 7405 of a physician graduate of a school of medicine not covered above if the candidate is to be assigned to a research, academic, or administrative position with no patient care responsibilities. The appointment will be made only in exceptional circumstances where the candidate's credentials clearly demonstrate high professional attainment or expertise in the specialty area.

Additional Information

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

Financial Disclosure Report:Not required

Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.