Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist (Information Systems)

Full Job Description

The Biomedical Equipment Support Specialist (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.

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.

Education, Experience, or Certification: (1) Associates or higher degree in the biomedical technology or biomedical engineering field; OR (2) Associates or higher degree in electronics, a field of information technology, or engineering (other than biomedical engineering) AND 1 year of creditable experience; OR (3) Completion of the Department of Defense (DOD) biomedical equipment technician training program; OR (4) Completion of a DOD training program in repair and maintenance of electronic systems or information technology AND 1 year of creditable experience; OR (5) Completion of a biomedical engineering technician or Healthcare Technology Management (HTM) certificate program that included an internship or apprenticeship; OR (6) Completion of biomedical engineering technician or HTM certificate program that did not include an internship AND 1 year of creditable experience; OR (7) 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. c. Grandfathering Provision.

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.

Specialized Experience. At least one year of experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level.

Specialized experience includes: (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.

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. Major Duties:

Duties Lifecycle management of network equipment including but not limited to network switches, servers, routers, and related infrastructure for any and all networked complex medical devices and systems such as imaging, life support, dialysis, and monitoring.

Completes both routine and complex assignments involved identifying and troubleshooting issues related to VLAN configuration, IP addressing, sub-netting, HL7, DICOM, Access Control List (ACL) and network security across the medical device network.

Coordinates and works effectively with other facility support departments including but not limited to Facilities Management Service (FMS), Office of Information Technology (OIT), Sterile Processing Service (SPS), and Environmental Management Service (EMS).

Utilizes advanced network test equipment and software including but not limited to tracers, wireless spectrum analyzers, network traffic monitors, command prompt, physical and virtual server software.

Manages, troubleshoots and maintains complete systems of computerized networks, databases and servers including but not limited to biomedical information systems that store or facilitate patient information.

These biomedical information systems include but are not limited to Picture Archiving Communication Systems (PACS), physiological monitoring systems, Clinical Information Systems (CIS), Anesthesia Record Keeping (ARK), and other systems for which Medical Device Isolation Architecture (MDIA) would apply.

Implements and plans for new and emerging technologies including but not limited to diagnostic modalities, network management and storage, and virtual data centers.

Designs, implements and manages network incident response due to infection, loss of service or regional and local policy changes according to VA guidelines.

Ensures proper security configuration for assigned devices and networks.

Regularly reviews and installs available approved software updates and virus definitions for applicable networked medical devices.

Leads development of disaster recovery procedures for critical systems to be enacted in the event of device failure.

Responsible for lifecycle management of any and all medical devices and systems such as imaging, life support, dialysis, and monitoring to include physical and network support.

Completes both routine and complex assignments involved in the installation, maintenance, modification, troubleshooting, repair and calibration of these complex therapeutic, diagnostic and life support medical devices and systems.

Maintains functional knowledge of relevant safety codes and standards of regulatory bodies including but not limited to The Joint Commission (TJC), National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI), American College of Radiology (ACR), Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS).

Documents all work performed in the computerized maintenance management system (CMMS).

This documentation is completed in accordance with regulatory body requirements, Healthcare Technology Management (HTM) Documentation of Services guidelines and other organizational requirements.

Maintains documentation of biomedical information systems covering ePHI requirements, VLAN, IP address, anti-virus software, security and other required information.

Functions as a Contracting Officer Representative (COR) and keeps appropriate certification levels. Investigates, remediates and documents recalls and safety alerts within established timeframes.

Participates in local safety improvement processes such as Root Cause Analysis (RCA), safety work groups, and Environment of Care Rounds.

Identifies hazards during routine job performance and takes action to ensure they are addressed and corrected.

Maintains knowledge of the state of the art in medical technology, including scientific advances, network protocols, and vendor changes.

Focuses on professional development in all areas of medical technology lifecycle management including technical skills.

Knowledge and training is obtained from formal (conference, classes) or informal (magazines, articles, peer training) means.

Provides training and education as appropriate to medical technology end users and clinical staff.

May be tasked with leading and managing installation or upgrade projects for biomedical information systems, backup servers, other communication systems and other medical devices and systems.

This includes but is not limited to pre-implementation planning and coordination with end users, vendors, and other onsite support staff (OIT, Informatics, SPS, etc.) for CIS, ARK, Imaging communication and other biomedical information system projects.

Additional duties are performed as assigned by supervisor Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm or 7:30am-4:00pm Telework: Not Eligible Virtual: This is not a virtual position