The Program Support Assistant (PSA) in Medical Service providing full support to the Service to meet the performance standards for the facility. Routine work is performed independently in accordance with the overall objectives of Medical Service and the VA Palo Alto Health Care System (VAPAHCS). Incumbent refers situations beyond his/her scope of responsibility to the Business Manager or to the Chief of Medical Service.

Duties

The position requires excellent communication skills and familiarity with various computer programs, including Microsoft Office Suite, VistA, and CPRS. A high degree of discretion is required due to frequent access to confidential patient information. Good judgment is required in the course of any day to make independent, appropriate decisions, sometimes under urgent circumstances. The incumbent must adhere to all Veterans Administration privacy and information security rules. The incumbent will be required to manage and resolve requests for information from internal and external entities, including Stanford University, VA Palo Alto Medical Service and hospital leadership and will interface with staff and patients in an efficient and compassionate manner. Interacts in a timely and efficient manner with the Medical Service staff and sections, including the sections of Endocrinology, Gastroenterology, General Internal Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Hematology, Infectious Disease, Rheumatology/lmmunology, Nephrology, Oncology, Cardiology, Inpatient Medicine, Outreach, Pulmonary, Women's Health, other medical specialty staff, and other Health Care System employees. Schedules outpatient clinic appointments using Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) scheduling options. The incumbent follows national established business rules to schedule appointments for Veterans. Assists the clinicians within their assigned sections in sorting and triaging Secure Messages from veterans, elevating the important messages and responding as necessary to the remaining messages. Serves as the manager of administrative functions for her/his assigned section/s of Medical Service and as backup coverage for all other sections as required by the Service. Manages and maintains current information on the academic appointment status of Medical Service staff physicians, resident rotation schedules, leave, absences, and call schedules through communication with administrative staff at the Stanford Department of Medicine. Acts as Automated Data Processing Application Coordinator (ADPAC) for their assigned section ensuring that all staff has the appropriate hardware and software required to complete their duties. Serve as the timekeeper and tracks the hours of service performed by the various contract physicians for their assigned Section(s) Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am - 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#: Program Support Asst (OA)/PD02740A Financial Disclosure Report: Not required To learn more visit: http://www.paloalto.va.gov/about/

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/11/2023. 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-7 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-6. 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 and/or education s described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-6 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: serves as advisors and experts to the Section Chiefs and supports the management information components, serves as a management analyst, tracking and assisting with suspense items, assists in managing all equipment, maintains a service-level records inventory and file plan, manages a spreadsheet to identify and track record titles, descriptions, locations, volumes, filing instructions, and dispositions, creates and manages forms, charts, and posters, often complex, utilizing Power Point, Excel, VISIO, and Microsoft Word, designs detailed charts and graphs, serves as an assistant of administrative functions, reviews all correspondence/publications prepared for the signature of individuals to ensure correct format, grammar, spelling, punctuation, appearance, and assembly. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Analysis and Problem SolvingCustomer Service (Clerical/Technical)Technical Documentation 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 is mostly sedentary, although there is some walking, bending and lifting. It is sometimes necessary to work at the computer for extended periods of time. The position requires the ability to concentrate with frequent interruptions. 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.

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 Palo Alto VA Medical Center 3801 Miranda Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94304 US
• Name: Desiree Carter
• Phone: 504-314-5492
• Email: [email protected]