This position is located within the Travel Unit at the VA New York Harbor Healthcare System in New York, NY. The Transportation Assistant (Office Automation) position is responsible for the approval and verification of all actions authorizing Beneficiary Travel which includes scheduling of VA Station cars, vans, ambulances, medical flights, commercial flights, and other contract transportation for patients.

Duties

***THIS IS NOT A VIRTUAL POSITION, YOU MUST LIVE WITHIN OR BE WILLING TO RELOCATE WITHIN A COMMUTABLE DISTANCE OF THE DUTY LOCATION*** The major duties include but are not limited to: Interprets and applies regulations and procedures to determine legal eligibility for travel; Obtains and interprets patient's means and co-pay tests to verify Veteran's eligibility status; Determines the most cost-efficient mode of travel for the patient considering factors such as special mode, distance, time of appointment or discharge, urgency, equipment or if an extra attendant is required; Keeps travel costs down by questioning costly or unnecessary travel requests and suggests alternative arrangements; Confirms with each patient their address, time of pick-up based on appointments and eligibility for travel; Posts in the database the travel costs for each trip to be paid such as ambulance trips, wheelchair vans, taxi trips and other special modes as necessary; Checks bills for accuracy and researches any discrepancies for proper payment; Receives bills from both contract and non-VA contract sources of transportation; Gathers data and prepares reports for statistical purposes; Makes recommendations consistent with normal practice, using experience in solving problems and handling unusual occurrences; Performs data entry using Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Access and Microsoft Outlook; Goes to discharging wards to assure medications, clothing and discharge procedures and instructions have been completed to ensure seamless travel arrangements and pick-ups; Communicates daily through personal contacts, telephone contacts, email or fax, with patients and their families, visitors and staff; Services as the Liaison Officer with the representatives of ambulance companies, taxi companies and other agencies both VA and private sector to assure patient travel is completed successful and most efficiently; Assists patients and staff with off-contract and alternative non-VA travel; Provides advisory assistance to patients and staff regarding any/all transportation needs; Participates in risk management/quality assurance activities, safety programs and other quality management activities related to patient travel; and, Performs all other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Full Time, Monday - Friday 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Recruitment & Relocation Incentives: Not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required

Requirements

Qualifications

Typing Proficiency: This position requires the skills of a qualified typist. In addition to meeting the experience and/or education requirements, you must be able to type at least 40 words per minute. AND In addition to the Typing Proficiency, to qualify for this position at the GS-5 level, you must meet one of the following: Experience: You must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-4) in the Federal Service that has given you the particular knowledge, skills and abilities required to successfully perform the duties of a Transportation Assistant (Office Automation), and that is typically in or related to the position to be filled. Specialized experience includes applying transportation regulations and practices to perform a wide variety of administrative support; coordinating travel arrangements; maintaining records, utilizing databases, reconciling records and generating reports; investigating/resolving issues and taking corrective actions; and communicating effectively with a wide variety of individuals. NOTE: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. OR Education: Successfully completed four (4) years of education above the high school level in any field for which high school graduation or the equivalent is the normal prerequisite. This education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university. One year of full-time academic study is defined as 30 semester hours, 45 quarter hours, or the equivalent in a college or university, or at least 20 hours of classroom instruction per week for approximately 36 weeks in a business, secretarial or technical school. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. OR Combination: Equivalent combinations of successfully completed post-high school education (beyond the second year) and specialized experience, as described above, which meet the total experience requirements for this grade level. This education must have been obtained in an accredited business, secretarial or technical school, junior college, college or university. NOTE: Transcripts (unofficial or official) must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. You will be rated on the following Competencies as part of the assessment questionnaire for this position: Administration and ManagementAnalytical ThinkingCustomer ServiceData Management IMPORTANT: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. All experience listed on your resume must include the month and year start/end dates. 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. 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; religious; 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. Physical Requirements: The work of this position is sedentary with some walking, bending and stooping. The work is performed on the wards and in an office setting within a secure area. 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

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education.

NOTE: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address VA NY Harbor Healthcare System 423 East 23rd Street New York, NY 10010 US
• Name: VHA National Recruitment Center
• Phone: (844)456-5208
• Email: [email protected]