This position is located at the Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center, Spokane, Washington (MGVAMC), servicing Veterans residing in an approximate 64,000-square mile primary service area within Veterans Integrated Service Network (VISN) 20 Northwest Network. The position is aligned under the MGVAMC Fiscal Service and incumbent reports directly to the Veterans Transportation Program Mobility Manager.

Duties

Independently manages the Beneficiary Travel (BT) Program. Utilizes various software applications to accurately determine and/or verify Veteran eligibility and amount owed for travel reimbursement according to national and local rules, regulations and Standard Operating Procedures (SOP). Determines eligibility for the program and processes requests. Assists veterans with waiver applications when Veteran has experienced a major change in income for the current year or is requesting deductible be waived due to financial hardship. Reviews clinical requests for transportation at VA expense utilizing the Electronic Health Record (EHR), and determines best mode of transportation i.e., VTS, common carrier or special mode based on cost effectiveness and patient medical needs. Arranges complex transport, i.e. ambulance and air ambulance for patients adhering to provider specifications of mode of transport, ensuring that mode is correctly denoted according to the patient's medical condition. Properly annotates travel arrangement in patient record, and, when needed, sends veteran travel itinerary. Accurately arranges and coordinates air ambulance travel for eligible veterans for organ/tissue transplants or other inter-facility transfers, prepare authorizations for travel by taxi and/or other hired vehicles. Receives invoices for payment of transportation services: investigates authorizations, orders, and/or utilizes the EHR to review medical records; forwards for supervisory approval and submits all documents for payment utilizing appropriate control points for reference in the Veterans Health Information & Technology Architecture (VISTA). Reviews requests for reimbursement of travel costs for assuring compliance with regulations and procedures, completeness, accuracy, internal consistency, and agreement with basic authorization. Receives in-person, telephone and written contacts from Veterans, their representatives and staff regarding questions or problems related to transportation or reimbursement benefits. Responsible for explaining regulations and guidelines to beneficiaries for submitting any unauthorized ambulance claims to the VA Medical Center for consideration of payment. Contributes and assists in attaining Business Office goals; communicates well with others; works as a team member and provides good customer service to internal and external stakeholders. Responds to client requests and seek resolution of family/patient/employee complaints; forwards unresolved complaints to supervisor, when appropriate. Performs other related duties as required. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Transportation Assistant/PD70537A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized. Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized. Financial Disclosure Report: Not required.

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 09/18/2023. 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 within 30 days of 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: Performing transportation support duties such as coordinating connections/scheduling, documenting travel information; collecting, compiling, and tracking data on a daily basis; performs a basic analysis of data and generates a variety of reports; entering data into automated tracking data bases; and planning and directing a program that provides support services. NOTE: Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must clearly indicate the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Customer ServicePlanning and EvaluatingTechnical Competence 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: Work involves various physical demands requiring the employee to be versatile in the many functions performed. These include sedentary work performed at a desk with intermittent standing, walking, bending, and lifting of lightweight records or supplies. The duties and responsibilities of the position require some mobility between various clinic areas in separate building location sites, but generally the job is sedentary with some standing, stooping, reaching and lifting to 20 pounds. The employee is required to work with computer equipment at least 75% of the time which impacts on hand and wrist motions. 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/.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Contacts

• Address Mann-Grandstaff Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center 4815 North Assembly Street Spokane, WA 99205 US
• Name: Abigail Brown
• Phone: (541) 440-1000 X40617
• Email: [email protected]