Genetic Counselor - Remote Telehealth

Type: Contract, 100% telehealth | Location: Remote, United States | Positions: 5.9 FTE across multiple positions | Start: Second contract year (first extension option), expected late September 2027; not staffed in the first year | Term: 12-month contract expected to start late September 2026, with up to four one-year extension options

About the assignment

A national telehealth genomic medicine program run by a large integrated health system. The program provides medical genetics evaluation and genetic counseling to adult patients by video, and currently has a shortage of genetics teleconsultation clinicians. West End Workforce is staffing six physician clinical geneticists in the first contract year, with genetic counselors joining from the second year. Positions are fully remote and are contingent on contract award and on the health system credentialing each clinician. Your West End recruiter will share the client and program details during the interview process.

Position Summary

The Genetic Counselor provides a broad range of independent genetic counseling services, entirely by telehealth, to adult patients and their families in a national genomic medicine program. You see patients independently, from initial consultation through test selection, ordering and results disclosure, with a physician clinical geneticist available for asynchronous collaboration when needed. The client has confirmed genetic counselors are not part of the first contract year; these positions start with the first extension year.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Communicate with patients, referring providers and colleagues.
• Review records in the client's electronic health record and from external sources, and conduct comprehensive literature review, to identify and interpret the risk of an inherited disorder.
• Obtain personal medical, lifestyle, environmental and family histories, including service-related exposures, and perform genetic risk assessment.
• Educate patients on inheritance patterns, recurrence risks, and the disease prevention and screening options available to them.
• Identify the best genetic testing strategy for the patient, the referring provider and the pathology department, and order the testing.
• Interpret results and ensure they are documented and communicated to the patient and the referring provider.
• Counsel patients and identify resources within the health system that help the patient and family adapt to the genetic information.
• Document all clinical activity in the electronic health record.
• Meet the workload standard of a minimum of 12 new patient consultations and an average of 11 to 12 follow-up visits per 40-hour week or equivalent.
• Administrative time of about 20%: one hour a week of collaboration, one hour a week with laboratories on complex test requests or results, one hour a week of case conference, and documentation across multiple record systems.
• Consult a clinical geneticist asynchronously when a case needs physician input (expected for fewer than 10% of patients).
• Participate in developing and distributing information about the program's genetic counseling services and education materials on genetic conditions.
• Participate in quality improvement activities, staff meetings as required, and a monthly meeting with the program's supervisory clinical staff on quality issues.
• Comply with safety, security, privacy and hand-off communication policies; maintain patient confidentiality; maintain certification and continuing education.

Education, Licensure and Certification

• Board Certified by the American Board of Genetic Counseling (ABGC). The client has confirmed board-eligible candidates are not accepted for this role.
• Current, full and unrestricted genetic counselor license in the states where your patients' facilities are located. In states that do not license genetic counselors, you practice directly under a board-certified physician geneticist of the health system. Licensure in one or more of the program's priority states (California, Texas, Nevada, Massachusetts, Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, New Hampshire, Maine, Hawaii, Mississippi, Rhode Island) is preferred.
• Any license that has ever been restricted, suspended, revoked, voluntarily surrendered pending action, or denied on application is disqualifying, even where other licenses are current and unrestricted.
• Current Basic Life Support (BLS) certification or equivalency, kept current.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Skill in oral and written communication with patients, referring providers and colleagues.
• Electronic health record documentation; comfortable delivering counseling by video.
• Speaks, understands, reads and writes English fluently.
• Knowledge of federal and state regulations related to the provision of care.

Remote Work Environment

• 100% telehealth. You provide your own private workspace that meets the client's privacy and telework standards, with a reliable internet connection.
• The client furnishes a docking station, laptop, two monitors, camera and identity-card reader.
• You may work from any location in the United States and do not need to reside in the states where your patients are located, but you must be physically in the United States while providing services.
• Training on the electronic health record and the video platform is provided by the client.

Schedule and Coverage

• Monday through Friday during the business hours of the patient's local clinic, currently 8:00 am to 4:30 pm in the clinic's time zone. Eight-hour day, no call, no off-hours coverage.
• Full-time equivalent is 2,080 hours per year. Full-time and part-time arrangements are considered; part-time clinicians keep set hours within clinic hours and are reachable by phone, email and Teams during those hours.
• Observes the client's holiday calendar.
• Arrange clinical coverage for planned absences. If a scheduled clinician cannot complete a shift, replacement coverage is expected within two hours. Absences of three or more consecutive workdays require a qualified replacement.
• No substitutions in the first 90 days of the contract other than for illness, death or termination of employment.

Compliance and Credentialing

• Credentialing and privileging by the health system must be complete before the first patient is seen; the client may decline any candidate. Verifiable record of all education and training, including any gaps.
• Client background investigation and identity badge before network access: application forms in week one, adjudication typically two to three weeks.
• Health screen before start, current within the past year: negative TB skin test or IGRA, proof of MMR and varicella immunity, one dose of Tdap, and the annual influenza vaccine (or a mask during flu season if contraindicated). Hepatitis B vaccination series with post-series surface antigen result, and completion of bloodborne pathogen training.
• Completes the client's mandatory training on hire and annually (about two dozen one-hour courses, including privacy and information security, patient safety, patient rights, electronic health record, telework agreement and the genetic test ordering system), plus a minimum of two working days of training on the contracted genetic testing laboratory's portal.
• Provides current certification documents annually and copies of continuing education on request; failure to provide results in loss of privileges.
• Legally authorized to work in the United States (E-Verify). Must not appear on the HHS OIG List of Excluded Individuals/Entities.
• Referral of the program's patients to your own or your employer's practice is prohibited.
• Patient safety incidents are reported through the client's reporting system within 24 hours.

This description summarizes the principal duties of the position and is not an exhaustive list. Duties may be adjusted to meet the needs of the program. Requirements reflect the client's stated specification.