Physician - (Associate Chief Health Informatics Officer)

Summary

The Fredericksburg HCC (FxHCC), opening in March 2025, is seeking an Associate Chief Health Informatics Officer (ACHIO). Part of the Central Virginia VA Health Care System (CVHCS), FxHCC will expand services in a growing veteran region. Working with the Director of Clinical Services at FxHCC and the CVHCS CHIO in Richmond, the ACHIO will coordinate informatics efforts at FxHCC and oversee ambulatory care informatics initiatives for the CVHCS Health informatics service.

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Duties

Functions:

This role combines clinical, administrative, and technical knowledge that involve multiple specialized areas of a complex nature to develop, manage, maintain, and lead major clinical informatics initiatives and projects of a broad scope. The incumbent will use knowledge of patient care combined with the understanding of informatics concepts to achieve the following: assess information and knowledge needs of the health care professionals and patients; characterize, evaluate, and refine clinical processes; develop, implement, and refine clinical decision support systems; and participate in the procurement, customization, implementation, management, evaluation and continuous improvement of clinical information systems.

As a minimum expectation, informatics personnel should demonstrate the following eight core informatics functions at the baseline proficiency level (VHA Health Informatics Functions Framework, 2020): application support, business architecture management, enterprise data management, content management, system optimization, change management, requirements management, and partnership management.

Administrative

• The Associate CHIO must demonstrate a mastery of
  
  

i. Medical knowledge by being a clinician independently licensed in a State, Territory, or the District of Columbia.

ii. The health care environment, including how business processes influence health care delivery and the flow of data among the major domains of the health care system.

iii. How information systems and processes enhance or compromise the decision making and actions of health care team members.

iv. Re-engineering health care processes.

v. Fundamental information system concepts, including the life cycle of information systems, the constantly evolving capabilities of information technology and health care, and the technical and non-technical issues surrounding system implementation.

vi. How clinical information systems impact users and patients, how to support users and how to promote clinical adoption of systems.

vii. Leading organizational change, fostering collaboration, communicating effectively, and managing large scale projects related to clinical information systems.

viii. Will perform all other duties as assigned.

Patient Care Responsibilities

• The applicant will practice medicine in their clinical specialty at FxHCC in a part-time capacity of no less than 25% of their full-time equivalent.
• The incumbent will play key role in demonstrating the capability of the VA clinical information systems and will assist fellow practitioners in doing the right things for the right patients at the right time.
• The incumbent ensures adequate support to measurably improve the quality of data and the transfer of clinical information between providers.
• The incumbent will ensure valid information is available to the patients and to their health care practitioner.
• The incumbent coordinates the use of electronic health record software packages for the provision of quality clinical care as well as the use of clinical decision support tools to streamline the process of patient care and provide accurate date in a timely manner.
• The incumbent will help ensure the VHA's Electronic Health Record (EHR) system operates in a way that improves patient care, ensures patient safety, and meets the needs of providers through continuous evaluation, testing, and improvement of the system.
  
  

VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package. VHA Physician Total Rewards.

Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized

Education Debt Reduction Program: Not Authorized

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: 8:00am to 4:30pm. Monday - Friday

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Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• U.S. Citizenship; non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• 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.
  
  

Board Certification in a primary medical specialty.

Is required, as well as board certification or board eligibility in the Clinical Informatics subspecialty . Are you certified, or will you be certified, by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) or the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) in the specialty/sub-specialty indicated in the announcement?

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, you must meet the basic requirements as well as any additional requirements (if applicable) listed in the job announcement. Applicants pending the completion of training or license requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met. Currently employed physician(s) in VA who met the requirements for appointment under the previous qualification standard at the time of their initial appointment are deemed to have met the basic requirements of the occupation.

Basic Requirements:

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  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.
• 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
• 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.
  
  

Additional Requirement:

• MD or DO medical degree.- Master's degree in bioinformatics, Computer Science, Business or Health Administration, or a minimum of 3 years of leadership experience in a clinical informatics role.
• Active board certification in a primary clinical specialty.
• Active board certification in Clinical Informatics or Clinical Informatics board eligible through the ACGME
• Accredited Fellowship pathway.- A minimum of 5 years of clinical work experience as a physician.
• Must maintain an active, unrestricted US state medical license.
  
  

Preferred Experience: VA experience preferred



Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.



Physical Requirements: Must be able to pass a physical.

Education

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. Approved schools are:

• 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.
• 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.]
  
  
  
  

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.

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.

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Central Virginia VA Health Care System

1201 Broad Rock Boulevard

Richmond, VA 23249

US