Audiology Health Technician
Summary:
Vighter is recruiting dedicated and compassionate Audiology Health Technicians to join our healthcare team at the Baton Rouge Veterans Affairs Outpatient Clinic, 7968 Essen Park Avenue, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70809. The successful candidate will provide comprehensive diagnostic and therapeutic audiology services to veterans at the VA Medical Center. The Health Technician shall be responsible for providing staffing services via face-to-face, telephone, secure message, video-telehealth, and synchronous tele-health modalities. Health Technicians conduct hearing aid education and maintenance; Accurate ear mold impressions, preparation of the mold for shipping, and mailing of the ear mold together with the hearing aid order to the vendor are necessary. The technician is responsible for tracking hearing aid orders and communicating with vendors to ensure they are received. When a hearing aid is determined to be delayed, s/he proactively makes appropriate phone contacts to resolve the issue.
When hearing aids are delivered (daily) to the clinic, the technician is responsible for certifying them and checking them to ensure that all ordered components are present and that the hearing aids and/or accessories are ready to be issued. The health technician instructs properly maintaining, cleaning, and using, as well as using hearing aids and/or assisted listening devices (amplified phones, TV devices, etc.). The health technician is responsible for documenting the patient's education in the medical record. The standard of care shall be of a quality, meeting or exceeding all currently recognized national standards.
Principle Accountabilities:
Responsible for routine repairs of hearing aids. During the day-to-day routine, s/he may meet with veterans on a one-to-one basis in an outpatient or in-patient setting in order to solve hearing aid problems.
Provides primary-level troubleshooting and repair for veterans who are experiencing hearing aid problems. Services commonly provided by the technician include the evaluation of hearing aid function and physical fit, changing of batteries, removal of stuck batteries, cleaning of electrical contacts, changing of wax traps, replacing ear mold tubing, modifications of the physical hearing aid shape, and counseling the veteran in the proper usage and methods of care for the instrument.
Responsible for performing otoscopic examinations to determine if cerumen management is necessary.
When a hearing aid needs to be repaired, the incumbent utilizes the Remote Order/Entry System (ROES) to prepare the proper paperwork, wraps the hearing aid, and ships it. Makes appropriate entries in the clinic’s record tracking system to ensure the aid is properly tracked. S/he then either mails the hearing aid to the veteran when it returns; sometimes first reprogramming the aid back to previous settings if the settings were lost during repair.
As part of the repair responsibility, the incumbent evaluates the operation of Assistive Listening Devices (ALDs). The technician determines if the ALD is working properly and performs routine repairs as needed. When needed, the ALD is sent in for repair. When the incumbent finds skill or knowledge deficits, s/he provides specific training or patient education and documents it in the patient record.
Performs data management functions that are critical to the delivery of audiology services. In addition to those computerized tracking and ordering functions described below, these functions also include following up on the EARR reports to ensure that all encounters and workload are captured and appropriately documented.
This staff member is responsible for managing all stock hearing aids, batteries, ALDs, ear mold orders, and accessories for both VA and NON-VA CARE devices, inventory, and repairs. This employee is also responsible for all ROES entries, errors, certifications, and issues his employee, in partnership with coworkers.
The technician is responsible for monitoring supplies and maintaining an adequate supply of materials to meet clinic needs. This may require phone or computer correspondence with SPD, Vetmart, and multiple hearing aid vendors.
The Audiologists and technician will properly and independently refer patients to ENT if cerumen impaction cannot be easily removed and/or if medical issues contradict the removal of cerumen.
Responsible for cleaning and preparing the equipment for sterilization as noted in the protocol.
The incumbent is responsible for communicating with veterans to educate them on proper ear hygiene. The technician will document all CPRS encounters and communicate with the Audiologist as needed.
The incumbent may be required to perform a variety of previously unforeseen tasks to assist with the smooth functioning of the Audiology clinic.
Audiologists may need to help in getting heavy patients into the booth.
When sick calls occur, staff may be asked to call patients to move them into other clinics. This may include using the scheduling features in VISTA to reschedule patients properly.
The incumbent’s expertise is required to quickly fix or repair the patient’s hearing aid so that the patient can understand family members and Physicians.
Assist as needed with tele-audiology delivery, including health technician level provision of care across the following modalities: telephone call, secure message, video-telehealth, and synchronous and asynchronous telehealth.
Education:
- High School diploma or equivalent is required.
- All continuing education courses required for maintaining certification must be kept up to date.
Qualifications:
- MUST HAVE PRIOR EXPERIENCE IN A CLINICAL SETTING
- MUST HAVE 1 YEAR OF EXPERIENCE AS AN AUDIOLOGY TECH
Vighter LLC is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. Position is contingent upon contract award.
In accordance with recent Executive Orders (EO 14151, EO 14168 and EO 14173,) Vighter LLC is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Contact us: HR@Vighter.com
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