The Program Assistant serves as the Health Benefits Assistant for the Health Administration Service (HAS), providing a high level of administrative and data support to HAS to include the Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) as well as various stations. The primary function is to make eligibility determinations for VA healthcare which requires an extensive knowledge of VA laws, directives, policies and procedures.

Duties

This position is covered by American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) bargaining unit. Per the Master Agreement, the Area of Consideration will be: FIRST - Facility-wide (including satellites) SECOND - Administration or Staff office posting the vacancy. Duties typically include, but are not limited to: Entering Patient Demographic Data in the designated application. Entering applicant as well as spouse's insurance information. Entering Veteran's eligibility status and eligibility code. Answering questions from Veterans and survivors about Aid & Attendance Benefits. Calculating periods of service based on military dates and enter each period. Entering military service data such as service branch, service number, dates of military service, character of service, and conflict locations. Determining or verify Veterans eligibility utilizing VA information systems. Entering information for Veteran Health Identification Card Program. Making Special Travel arrangements per physician documentation according to traveler's medical condition and/or preference. Coordinating travel arrangement, to secure reservations and tickets from carrier, according to government rates or substantial rates. Reviewing the Incomplete Encounter Management Module (IEMM) daily. Correcting incorrect data in the Incomplete Encounter Management Module (IEMM) that prevent transmission of encounters. Running reports for Ineligible/Missing Data for applicants in the system. Correcting ineligible patients found on Ineligible/Missing Data Report in Enrollment System or add any missing data with veteran profile. Registering Veterans into Health Eligibility Center (HEC) Special Programs. Acting liaison for patients with team members and other clinical services. Adjusting to change in workload in a pleasant manner. Identifying supply shortages, equipment malfunctions, system and service disruption and communicates them to appropriate services or supervisor. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 7:30am - 4:00pm or 8:00am - 4:30pm Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Program Assistant/PD509-16369-A 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 by the closing date of this announcement, 10/16/2023. 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-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. 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. You may qualify based on your Specialized Experience as described below: Specialized Experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA's) to successfully perform the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled. To be creditable, specialized experience must have been equivalent to at least the next lower grade level. Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Experience with Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (ViSTA) to include the registration process, entering a means test, and updating demographics; reviewing, verifying, and analyzing data for consistency with financial and program objectives; and experience maintaining documents with spreadsheets and computer database applications. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Technical Competency Veteran and Customer Focus Customer Service Organizational Awareness Interpersonal Skills 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: This is primarily a sedentary position, but the work requires some walking, bending, stooping, and carrying of light objects such as manuals, documents, etc. Concentration and sustained performance under prolonged stress is required because of the time factors involved in completion of work assignments within deadlines. 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. Submitted transcripts will not be reviewed.

Contacts

• Address Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center One Freedom Way Augusta, GA 30901 US
• Name: VHA National Recruitment Center
• Phone: (844)456-5208
• Email: [email protected]