This Transportation Assistant position is located in the Business Office at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System Newington, CT location. This position is full-time at 40 hours per week.

Duties

Duties may include but are not limited to: Review eligibility of each Veteran before finalizing Beneficiary Travel reimbursements to determine accuracy of claim and provide accuracy of claim and provide accurate reimbursement of claim. Schedules/Arranges all modes of transportation via air ambulance, commercial air, taxi ambulance, bus, and/or contracted transport services. Determine which of several fund control points to utilize, obligating funds, maintaining manual and electronic accounting records, performing regular reconciliations, and adjusting account balances. Enhance the customer experience with positive human, Telephonic and other Telecommunication interactions. Determining eligibility for the Travel Program, and processing requests. Independently responsible for determining method/source of payment for authorized and unauthorized ambulance claims submitted for consideration. Investigates authorizations, orders, and/or utilizes the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) to review medical records, forwards for clinician review and supervisory approval and submits all documents for payment utilizing appropriate control point for reference. Composes or selects letters, based on circumstance for individuals, explaining disposition of unauthorized travel claims. Responsible for in depth explanations of regulations and guidelines to beneficiaries for submitting any unauthorized ambulance claims to the VA Medical Center for consideration of payment. The incumbent communicates and interacts with patients in a manner which is appropriate to cognitive, emotional, and chronological maturation needs of the adult and/or geriatric patient. Schedule and Coordinate with all vendors for Special Mode Transportation daily while insuring both patient and vendor are aware of times/dates to facilitate their care. Prepare documentation to schedule and reserve tickets for eligible patients requiring airline transportation, E.G. Fixed wing, Life Flight or Commercial Airplane on short- and long-term notice to insure facilitation of veteran care at other facilities in a long-range setting. Receives invoices for payment of transportation services. Responsible for auditing, balancing, reconciling, and adjusting invoices for payment Documents, compiles and prepares statistical ambulance reports to supervisor/leadership upon request for fiscal year budget. Utilizes and maintains control of internal filing system for beneficial travel/patient funds in accordance with National VA and Fiscal regulations. Collecting, compiling, and tracking data and statistical information in support of Veteran Transportation Service (VTS). Performs a basic analysis of the data and generates a variety of reports. Extract, Prepare and audit Beneficiary Travel voucher daily batch for errors and report any found errors/concerns to management/leadership Team. Extract, Compile and submit daily clerk reports summarizing all duties/tasks completed, E.G. vouchers processed, phone calls, and customer service interactions and report to Supervisor/ Management Team. Evaluate all aspects of fraud research and prevention in accordance with VA National and local Policy. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Telework Eligibility: Reg Telework 1-2 Days/A Pay Period. Position Description/PD#: Transportation Assistant/PD00398A Financial Disclosure Report: Not required NOTE: This position is a Bargaining Unit position. This position is covered by locality-based comparability pay. Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50, (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held. This position is in the Competitive Service. Interchange Agreements with Other Merit System: Employees who occupy medical or medical-related positions and were appointed under 38 U.S.C. 4701(1) or (3) [formerly 38 U.S.C. 4104 (1) and (3)] must be serving in a full-time position without time limit and have served continuously for at least one year in this other merit system to be eligible to convert to the Title 5 System. Some exceptions to this rule may apply if you have previously acquired tenure under a Title 5 appointment.

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 08/25/2023. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-6 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-5 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Answers questions/resolve concerns with customers, patients, family members, medical staff; tracking, collecting and organizing data in an automated spreadsheet or database; knowledgeable in regard to consult management, scheduling, admissions, discharge, transfer, and/or administration with patient processing; prepare and produce written instructions and a variety of correspondences; and coordination of transportation to include scheduling, data collection, and tracking; determines eligibility for program and processes requests, submits documents for payment utilizing appropriate funds, explains regulatory guidelines to beneficiaries submitting unauthorized claims, communicates and interacts with patients and other administrative staff. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and ManagementArithmetic/Mathematical ReasoningCustomer Service (Clerical/Technical)Database Management SystemsOral Communication Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: The work requires no special physical demands, but will require some physical effort such as standing, walking, bending or sitting. Incumbent will be exposed to stressful working situations that will require a mature attitude and collective reasoning to overcome. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/. To ensure compliance with an applicable preliminary nationwide injunction, which may be supplemented, modified, or vacated, depending on the course of ongoing litigation, the Federal Government will take no action to implement or enforce the COVID-19 vaccination requirement pursuant to Executive Order 14043 on Requiring Coronavirus Disease 2019 Vaccination for Federal Employees. Therefore, to the extent a VA job announcement includes language requiring applicants to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 pursuant to Executive Order 14043, that requirement does not currently apply to this Job Announcement. VA may request information regarding your vaccination status, if selected, for the purposes of implementing other workplace safety protocols, such as masking, physical distancing, testing, travel, and quarantine.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Contacts

• Address West Haven VA Medical Center 950 Campbell Avenue West Haven, CT 06516 US
• Name: Emily Wayne-Lane
• Phone: 781-687-2000 (6764)
• Email: [email protected]