The Northern Arizona VA Health Care System is currently recruiting for one Program Specialist (Patient Representative) in the Community Care Service, Prescott, Arizona. The incumbent conducts reviews in the areas of community care coordination and payment of claims related to care in the community with the Budget Analyst to attempt and resolve concerns from Veterans and community providers.

Duties

Major duties of the Program Specialist include but are not limited to: Contact members of the hospital staff at all levels concerning any matter or problem relating to patient care which has not been resolved by other services and seeks a resolution, whenever possible, within the full resources of the medical center and VA system. Explore all avenues, crossing all lines of authority and responsibility within the medical center, in order to properly identify the nature and scope of the problem and to initiate appropriate action to expedite a resolution. Gather, analyze, and prepare information while applying sound judgement when responding to inquiries to include those from Congressional Offices, White House Hotlines, Advance Credit Reports (ACR), VAIQs, Exec VA, CBI Helpline, Call Center Portals, Reports of Contact, and others as assigned appropriately managing relations across business units. Review files and records, and discusses with personnel or witnesses regarding any practice that appears to violate patient's rights or which causes unnecessary discomfort or embarrassment to patients, their families, or the health care facility and reports such findings with recommendations for improvements to the facility Director and/or top management team. Ensure that national VA patient advocacy program requirements are met by collecting, analyzing, and evaluating relevant data; and preparing meaningful reports based on that data. Serve as an advocate for patients throughout Community Care Service. Receive and listen to complaints and grievances from patients or from individuals on behalf of patients. Provide explanation regarding Veteran eligibility/entitlement to benefits according to the Veterans' Benefit Package and the laws and regulations governing VA authority to authorize payment for care in the community. Communicate with the Veteran to assist in filing claims and explain what action is needed by the Veteran to support their claims. Receive telephone calls regarding denied/rejected claims for various reasons and notifies the voucher examiner or designated personnel when additional information necessitates a second review of the claim. Coordinate and reroute calls appropriately in instances where other departments must be involved. Facilitate and follow through to ensure final resolution to the customer. Performs all other duties as assigned. 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 through Friday. Tours of duty will be discussed during the interview. Telework: Ad-hoc.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 Specialist (Patient Representative)/PD132980/132990 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, 12/15/2023. 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-09 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-07. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09.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 as described below. GS-09: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Qualifying specialized experience includes providing customer service to patients; assisting patients and staff with resolving problems or complaints; assisting with identifying problem areas and suggesting solutions or alternatives; explaining policies and procedures; keeping accurate records and preparing reports and/or written correspondence. 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 two (2) years of progressively higher-level graduate education or masters or equivalent graduate degree or LL.B. or J.D., in a related field of the position to be filled. Education at the graduate level must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. OR, Combination: Combinations of successfully completed graduate level education (beyond the first year) and specialized experience as described above, to meet the total experience requirements. The education portion must include graduate courses that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do to the work of this position. This education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. Experience must be clearly indicated in your resume. GS-11: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Qualifying specialized experience includes providing customer service to patients and staff with resolving problems or complaints; identifying problem areas and suggesting solutions or alternatives; explaining policies and procedures; keeping accurate records and preparing reports and/or written correspondence; collaborating with facility staff to improve the patient experience. 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 three (3) years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to a Ph.D. degree, or Ph.D., or equivalent doctoral degree in the related field of the position to be filled. The education portion must include courses that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. Education must have been obtained in an accredited college, or university. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. OR, Combination: Combinations of successfully completed graduate level education (beyond the first 2 years) and specialized experience as described above to meet total experience requirements. The education portion must include graduate courses that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do to the work of this position. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. Experience must be clearly indicated in your resume. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Analytical ReasoningCommunicationInformation ManagementOrganizational Performance Analysis 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 primarily sedentary, although some slight physical effort may be required in addition to some walking. Work is typically performed in an adequately lighted and climate-controlled office. May require occasional travel. 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.

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 Bob Stump VA Medical Center 500 Highway 89 North Prescott, AZ 86313 US
• Name: Jennie Chong
• Phone: 5628268000
• Email: [email protected]