Physician Assistant - Community Care

Summary The Community Care service coordinates care in the community for services that are not preformed within the VA medical center to include inpatient, outpatient, and emergency services. PA assigned to the Community Care Service Line are expected to provide clinical guidance to all stake holders as required. The PA will provide clinical patient care no less than 10 percent of the work week. Responsibilities VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package. Duties include but are not limited to the following: Serves in management of all Community Care consults and requests for additional services as directed. Demonstrate sound decision-making skills, both clinical and administrative, which bring credit to the profession and serve to enhance the distinctive and contributory role of physicians. Participates in multidisciplinary activities involving the treatment plan and discharge plans of patients admitted to the bed services as assigned. Utilizes problem solving methodologies to resolve problems that impact on patient care or staff performance. Ability to review patients both clinical and administratively to determine eligibility for Non-VA care services. Provides guidance to all staff assigned to Community Care Service. Assists in the training of staff and other stake holders in the use of Community Care. Assists in the coordination of care with outside providers using knowledge of the resources and specialty care available in the VA. Facilitates ongoing communication between Community Care staff and leadership to evaluate data and review workload demands. Fosters team-oriented environment among staff to work collaboratively with administrative staff and other clinical staff within the community care department; building trust relationships. Participates in and attends medical center committees as assigned. Revises work schedules and assignments on short notice to meet frequent, abrupt, and unpredictable changes in prescribed workloads and deadlines. Participates in various facility programs designed to enhance and improve the delivery of patient care services, such as Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) teams, as assigned by management. Demonstrates commitment to high quality customer service, including specific measures identified as performance goals by the Medical Center. Identifies individual professional learning needs and participates in formal programs, workshops, seminars, conferences, as well as self-directed learning activities, completes facility wide mandatory education yearly. Evaluating patients in his/her expertise in an outpatient setting; making appropriate referrals/consults, follow-ups, and treatment plans. Initial and interim histories and physical examinations on assigned outpatients and/or inpatients, as well as daily physical assessments on patients within his/her expertise. Follows acute and chronic physical health problems in the outpatient setting by providing ongoing comprehensive monitoring of these issues and some follow-up on specialty symptoms; provides medication management; orders routine laboratory, radiologic and diagnostic tests on assigned patients; and provides medication adjustments for physical problems. Writes/dictates consults, general progress notes, post-operative progress notes, and discharge summaries, when appropriate; may perform joint injections, veni-puncture and arterial punctures to obtain tests on assigned patients; may order electrocardiograms; provides patient education; and applies currently accepted preventive health care measures to patients and/or their families. Initiates Basic Life Support in accordance with current BLS standards, to include automatic defibrillation in life threatening situations; may initiate Advanced Cardiac Life Support in accordance with current ACLS protocols, to include defibrillation/cardio-version, in life threatening situations. The NP must be BLS/ACLS certified All current medical center approved non-restricted formulary medications will be within the approved Scope of Practice for the PA, except for Chemotherapy medications, Clozaril and Naltrexone. The PA reports to the Chief of Community Care for day-to-day activities and Supervisory responsible to the Chief of Community Care. The PA must hold a collaborative agreement with a qualified physician. The PA utilizes advanced practice skills and knowledge in a relatively independent manner in areas of patient care, education, research, and consultation. The PA provides holistic healthcare to Veterans, families, and groups across the adult life span. Work Schedule: Full Time Telework: Ad-Hoc. EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive. Contact Onnie.green@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after complete review of the EDRP application. Requirements Conditions of Employment All qualified candidates encouraged to apply. Open to U.S. Citizens but non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens. 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. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959. Must be proficient in written and spoken English. You may be required to serve a probationary period. Subject to background/security investigation. Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Must pass pre-employment physical examination. Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). 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 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. Physician Assistant Basic Requirements Master's degree in any discipline or a bachelor's degree in any discipline with one year of experience as a Physician Assistant ~AND~ Successfully passed the PA National Certifying Exam (PANCE) (or are you in the process to taking the exam) ~AND~ Currently hold, or will hold, a full and unrestricted license to practice in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States or in the District of Columbia. Preferred Experience: Highly preferred - 2+ years of utilization review experience. Experience working with virtual care platforms and electronic medical records. Experience with data tracking and analysis to drive clinical metrics. The ideal candidate will have experience working in the remote setting with minimal direct guidance/oversight of daily work but also expected to be highly collaborative with the parent station on-site clinician team, referral coordination team, and community care team. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. Physical Requirements: See VA Handbook 5019 Education Education. Graduate of a training program which is accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education of PA (ARC-PA) or one of its predecessor organizations. Additionally, candidates must meet one of the following: (1) Master's degree in any discipline; OR (2) Bachelor's degree in any discipline with one year of experience as a PA.] c. Certification. [Must have successfully passed the PA National Certifying Exam (PANCE). NOTE: Current and continuous certification by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) is no longer required for employment in VHA. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. Additional Information This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. 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. 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. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.