The incumbent is assigned as a Transportation Assistant for the Beneficiary Travel Program within the Health Administration Service (HAS) of the VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System (VATVCBHCS). The three major areas of responsibility are: (1) beneficiary travel claim processing; (2) scheduling special mode transportation; and (3) consult management.

Duties

*** Bargaining Position *** Join the VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System (VATVCBHCS) as a Transportation Assistant. You will be responsible for processing Beneficiary Travel Claims utilizing the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS). Veteran Health Information & Technology Architecture (VistA), local Beneficiary Travel Dashboard, local tools and other VHA software programs. You will determine eligibility for Beneficiary Travel benefits to include application of any deductibles, processing denials for ineligible claims, and forwarding travel vouchers to Fiscal Service for processing. You will also be responsible for preparing reports, conduct audits and analysis of Beneficiary Travel fund control point(s) activity at the direction of the Supervisory Mobility Transportation Specialist. Other duties include: Acts as liaison between vendors and Fiscal Service for travel vouchers pending payment; Responsible for explaining the regulatory guidelines to beneficiaries or vendors seeking payment for reimbursement of travel expenses or transportation services; Independently determines the types and sources of information needed to process beneficiary travel claims; Responsible for arranging all modes of transportation via air ambulance, commercial air, taxi, ambulance, bus and/or independent transports; Responsible for reviewing and approving special mode consults; Serve as a fund control point clerk for Beneficiary Travel fund control points, obligate funds, maintain manual and electronic accounting records, perform regular reconciliations and adjusting account balances. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Transportation Assistant/PD740-1048-A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: 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, 11/13/2023. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-5 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-4 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include: Knowledge and application of an extensive body of transportation regulations, methods and practices to perform a wide variety of interrelated or nonstandard transportation support assignments and resolve a wide range of problems; knowledge on how to extract information and mileage from a road atlas and city street maps and the ability to interpret contracts for transportation services; validation, control and maintaining accounting records for many travel accounts and make frequent dollar amount adjustments of those accounts; organize and maintain documentation and records supporting beneficiary travel reimbursements and vendor payments; and, office automation abilities, to include knowledge of email system, MS Office, spreadsheets and other equipment. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 4 years above high school. (Transcript Required) OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education only in excess of the first 60 semester hours (i.e., beyond the second year) to be creditable toward meeting the specialized experience requirement. One full academic year of study (30 semester hours) beyond the second year is equivalent to 6 months of specialized experience. (Transcript Required) You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Auditing Clerical Customer Service Data Management 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 sedentary. Some work may require movement between offices, hospitals, warehouses, and similar areas for meetings and to conduct work. Work may also require walking/standing, in conjunctions with travel to and attendance at meetings and/or conferences away from the work site. Incumbent may carry and lift light items weighing less than 15 pounds. 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

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

If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application.

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 TX Valley Coastal Bend HCS 2601 Veterans Drive Harlingen, TX 78550 US
• Name: VISN 17 SSU USAS Group
• Email: [email protected]