Lead Terminologist

About the role

The Lead Terminologist manages clinical terminology systems and ensures accurate mapping and maintenance of standardized healthcare vocabularies across VA's dual EHR environment (VistA/CPRS and Oracle Health). This role is critical to semantic interoperability, clinical decision support, data quality, and analytics supporting Electronic Health Record Modernization across 170+ VA Medical Centers.

Responsibilities

• Manage and maintain clinical terminology systems including SNOMED CT, LOINC, RxNorm, ICD-10-CM/PCS, CPT, and other standardized vocabularies
• Oversee terminology mapping between VistA/CPRS and Oracle Health platforms to ensure data consistency and interoperability
• Develop and maintain terminology subsets, value sets, and reference sets aligned with VA clinical requirements
• Coordinate terminology updates, version releases, and impact assessments across enterprise systems
• Ensure terminology governance aligns with national and international standards (UMLS, FHIR, HL7)
• Conduct terminology gap analysis and validate mappings for accuracy, completeness, and clinical appropriateness
• Support semantic interoperability enabling data exchange across VA systems and external partners
• Collaborate with clinical SMEs and informatics teams to integrate terminology into EHR workflows, clinical decision support (CDS), order sets, alerts, and documentation templates
• Monitor and resolve terminology-related data quality issues affecting clinical documentation, orders, and analytics
• Develop terminology guidelines and best practices for consistent use across clinical domains
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship to terminology analysts and junior staff
• Facilitate terminology work groups with clinical, informatics, and technical stakeholders
• Coordinate with VA Terminology Services, national terminology authorities (NLM, SNOMED International, Regenstrief Institute), and vendor partners
• Participate in SAFe® Agile ceremonies supporting two-week iteration cycles and quarterly Program Increments
• Create and maintain comprehensive terminology documentation including mapping specifications, guidelines, SOPs, and training materials

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree required in Health Informatics, Health Information Management, Computer Science, Linguistics, Library Science, Biomedical Informatics, or related field
• Master's degree preferred in Health Informatics or Clinical Informatics
• Clinical background advantageous (nursing, pharmacy, medical technology, HIM)

Preferred Certifications

• RHIA, RHIT, CAHIMS, CPHIMS, or terminology-specific certifications

Minimum Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years in clinical terminology management, healthcare vocabularies, or health informatics
• Minimum 2 years in a lead or senior terminology role
• Proven experience with SNOMED CT, LOINC, RxNorm, ICD-10-CM/PCS, CPT, and terminology mapping
• Experience with EHR systems, preferably Oracle Health (Millennium/Cerner) and/or VistA/CPRS
• Healthcare industry experience required; federal healthcare or VA experience preferred
• Terminology Systems Deep knowledge of SNOMED CT, LOINC, RxNorm, ICD-10-CM/PCS, CPT, NDC, HCPCS, and UMLS (Unified Medical Language System)
• Standards Understanding of HL7, FHIR, CDA, and healthcare data exchange standards
• EHR Platforms Experience with Oracle Health and/or VistA terminology infrastructure
• Tools Proficiency with terminology browsers/editors (SNOMED CT Browser, UMLS Metathesaurus, LOINC, RxNorm Navigator), mapping tools, and terminology servers
• Data Analysis SQL querying, data analytics tools, and ability to analyze terminology usage patterns

Benefits

At CVP, we strive to provide a supportive and inclusive work environment where all employees feel valued and respected. We offer competitive compensation, comprehensive benefits, professional development opportunities, and a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Pay

Compensation is competitive and commensurate with experience.

Schedule

This role is full-time and works standard business hours.

Contact

To apply, please visit our careers page at [insert link]. For more information about CVP, visit our website at [insert link].