Clinical Laboratory Scientist (Quality Manager)

Veterans Health Administration • Big Spring, TX

5d • Onsite

About The Position

The Clinical Laboratory Scientist (Quality Manager) provides consultative, facilitation, training, and technical support to staff and management to ensure compliance with clinical laboratory accreditation and regulatory standards, including Joint Commission, College of American Pathologists, Office of the Inspector General, and OSHA requirements. The position maintains continuous laboratory readiness and supports organizational performance improvement and patient safety programs.

The role develops, implements, and reviews quality-management policies and maintains a laboratory performance-improvement system, including quality indicators, customer feedback, tracking and trending, and inter-laboratory quality assurance and proficiency testing. It applies statistical methods to quality-control and quality-assurance data, identifies improvement opportunities, develops and monitors corrective action plans, and supports root-cause analysis, healthcare failure mode and effects analysis, and sentinel-event reviews.

The scientist evaluates and implements laboratory quality techniques and procedures, including validation plans for equipment and method comparisons and establishment of reference intervals. The position provides oversight and guidance for quality-assurance monitors and focused reviews, monitors regulatory compliance and quality trends, and helps redesign systems to improve service quality. Additional work includes advising management, maintaining instrumentation and technical documentation, coordinating staff training, supporting administrative functions, validating invoices, and collaborating with other medical-center services.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree or higher from an accredited college or university.
• Meet one of the certification options: generalist MLS certification from ASCP BOC or AMT; generalist MT certification from ASCP BOR or AMT; or a related categorical or specialist certification from ASCP or AMT.
• At least one year of creditable experience equivalent to the GS-11 level, gained while holding an applicable active certification.
• Qualifying experience must involve current clinical laboratory scientist practices in a healthcare field; research laboratory experience does not qualify.
• Demonstrate knowledge of medical-technology concepts, principles, and practices sufficient to plan, coordinate, and evaluate laboratory services.
• Demonstrate knowledge of laboratory accrediting agencies, regulatory requirements, laboratory operations, and the laboratory's relationship to the organization.
• Demonstrate skill in applying laboratory quality-control and quality-assurance policies, procedures, principles, and safety practices and regulations.
• Demonstrate ability to apply quality-management and performance-improvement principles, methods, and processes to develop and manage a clinical laboratory quality-management program.
• Demonstrate ability to apply statistical evaluation and analysis to quality-assurance data and implement corrective actions.
• Be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Be a U.S. citizen.
• Meet applicable background/security investigation, drug-testing, onboarding, and seasonal influenza vaccination requirements; males born after December 31, 1959 must meet Selective Service registration requirements.
• Serve a one- or two-year trial period if appointed.
• For foreign education, provide the required equivalency evaluation or certification-exam eligibility documentation unless an accepted ASCP or AMT certification establishes equivalency.

Nice To Haves

• Five or more years of full-time experience as a medical technologist.
• One year of full-time experience as a supervisor or quality-management professional.
• Certification as a professional in healthcare quality (CPHQ).
• Familiarity and experience with CLSI Quality Management Systems standards.

Responsibilities

• Serve as a consultant, facilitator, trainer, and technical advisor to laboratory staff and management on accreditation, regulatory compliance, and quality management.
• Maintain continuous laboratory readiness and support performance-improvement and patient-safety programs.
• Develop, implement, and review laboratory quality-management policies and maintain the laboratory performance-improvement program.
• Monitor quality components, customer feedback, monthly quality indicators, spreadsheets, tracking and trending analyses, and resolution of workgroup issues.
• Coordinate quality-control activities and proficiency-testing programs and interact with organizations involved in inter-laboratory quality assurance and proficiency testing.
• Advise laboratory management on quality concerns that may affect other services and assist with follow-up actions.
• Identify laboratory functions needing improvement, develop implementation plans with relevant personnel, and monitor outcomes.
• Perform statistical evaluation and analysis of quality-control and quality-assurance data and implement corrective actions when indicated.
• Evaluate and implement new quality techniques and procedures, including validation plans for equipment, method comparisons, and reference intervals.
• Provide oversight and guidance in developing quality-assurance monitors and focused reviews.
• Provide consultative support for root-cause analysis, healthcare failure mode and effects analysis, and sentinel events; develop action plans and outcome measures.
• Establish surveillance processes to monitor service-quality variables, policy compliance, and trends, and use findings to redesign systems.
• Apply regulatory, licensing, and accreditation requirements to establish and monitor appropriate reference laboratories.
• Assist the supervisor with compliance with regulatory-agency requirements, including CAP, The Joint Commission, and OSHA.
• Research qualitative and quantitative methods and resolve issues involving complex collected data.
• Represent the laboratory and interact with management officials, reagent and instrumentation manufacturers, and quality-assurance and proficiency-testing organizations.
• Evaluate developments in laboratory instrumentation and automation and serve as a primary information source for maintaining current instrumentation.
• Prepare procedure manuals, reports, records, safety data sheets, supply and inventory information, student-activity records, and administrative information.
• Coordinate employee training in laboratory methods and techniques and prepare and present work-related information to the supervisor.
• Develop and update technical policies and procedure manuals.
• Provide administrative support, including file maintenance and timekeeping.
• Work with the laboratory contracting officer's representative to validate section invoices for accurate and timely payment.
• Maintain effective interdepartmental relationships to support medical-center goals.

Benefits

• 37–50 days of annual paid time off per year, comprising 13–26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, and 11 paid federal holidays.
• Up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave after 12 months of employment, subject to eligibility.
• Eligible full-time employees may qualify for a childcare subsidy after 60 days of employment, subject to income and other eligibility limits.
• Traditional federal pension with five-year vesting and federal 401(k) with up to 5% in VA contributions.
• Federal health, vision, dental, term-life, and long-term-care insurance; many federal insurance programs may be carried into retirement.
• Competitive salary and regular salary increases; a higher step rate may be considered individually and is subject to approval.
• Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual based on prior work or military service, subject to approval.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior