The Supervisory Program Specialist (SPS), is part of the Medical Administration Service at the VA Northern Indiana Health Care System (VANIHCS). The primary function of this position is to serve as a Medical Administrative Services Supervisor in the Health Benefits Office, reporting to the Deputy Chief, Medical Administrative Services.

Duties

The primary responsibility encompasses three key functions are: facilitating all administrative aspects of the enrollment process; health benefits eligibility determinations, and related aspects of health benefits administration. Incumbent is a working supervisor, responsible for performance appraisals, disciplinary actions, leave administration and training. Health Benefits Office programs of responsibility include: Call Center, Eligibility, Enrollment, New Enrollee Appointment Request (NEAR) monitoring and management, new patient orientation, fugitive felon, long term care, admitting, discharging, decedent affairs, patient funds, legal clerk, provider enrollment, ward clerk and compensation and pension. Incumbent is responsible for the coordination and supervision of all activities associated with the daily and long-range operation of the above programs. Incumbent certifies duty time for employees. Incumbent develops performance plans and standards that are realistic. Incumbent manages the performance appraisal process and submits them timely in accordance with agency policy. Effectively deals with employee performance problems and takes appropriate actions. Counsels employees, recognizes and praises positive performance, and addresses areas where improvement is expected. Incumbent must have knowledge and is responsible for training staff on the Automated Data Processing (ADP) systems. Incumbent analyzes the necessary human resources, equipment and space to effectively support the mission of the Health Benefits Office. Supports planning efforts in implementing new logistical arrangements aimed at improving service. The incumbent considers the health care system's strategic goals of maximizing current and future resources, improving clinical delivery and continuum of care, promoting a positive image, and customer satisfaction within the Medical Center. Incumbent plays a critical support role in developing and coordinating internal review systems to assure that both clinical and administrative activities are in compliance with agency, accrediting and regulatory requirements. Incumbent is expected to continually and systematically evaluate assigned operations and to make necessary recommendations/changes to ensure conformance with standards and established goals. Analyzes data and identifies trends and concerns of issues. The incumbent prepares recurring and non-recurring reports for presentation to the Deputy Chief and Chief Medical Administrative Services. Incumbent collects and analyzes data on patient demand and workload trends. Implements changes, when possible, that improve customer relations. Provides training to staff members to ensure competence in all duties. Incumbent works with supervisor to ensure quality assurance issues pertaining to the service are documented and appropriate follow-up action occurs regarding any problem, or recommendation found or made as a result of the service's quality assurance activities. Incumbent maintains liaison and communications with Veterans, the families, and other persons and groups from both within and outside the organization, speaking for the principle on administrative issues. Receives and listens to complaints and grievances from patients or from individuals on behalf of patients. Makes inquiry into patient complaints, initiates action, and resolves the issue whenever possible. Incumbent refers unusual cases to the Deputy Chief, Medical Administrative Services when they are unable to resolve the issue. The incumbent will serve as the administrator for the Environmental Health Agents Program for VANIHCS and is responsible for performing a variety of significant administrative, analytical, and technical functions, tasks and special projects with respect to health care registries e.g. Agent Orange, Gulf War/Operation Iraqi Freedom, Depleted Uranium (DU), Ionizing Radiation, Prisoners of War (POW) and other environmental areas of concern e.g. Project Shipboard Hazard and Defense (SHAD), Military Chemical Warfare Agent Experiments, Cold Injury, Camp Lejeune Water, referrals to one of the War Related Illness and Injury Study Centers and the Compensation and Pension section for evaluations, etc. Will supervise the outpatient clinic points of contacts (HBAs) for EAS enrollments. This position requires an individual who is highly professional, has the ability to interview and investigate, able to juggle multiple tasks and responsibilities, and has extremely strong organizational, communication and people skills. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 7:30 am - 4:00 pm or 8:00 am - 4:30 pm. Schedule subject to change based upon the needs of the Agency. Compressed/Flexible Schedule: Not Available Telework: Not Available Position Description Title/PD#91193-0: Supervisory Program Specialist/GS-0301-09 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required Note: This is a Non-Bargaining Unit Position

Requirements

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 01/16/2024. 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. 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: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS- in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Analyzing issues involving tasks or problems brought forth, selecting and applying the appropriate policy or procedures to resolve issues; Participating in special projects or analytical studies; Conducting investigations or reviewing of operations; Preparing work flow charts, work standards, and staffing recommendations or suggestions for improved methods and procedures; coordinating, implementing and completing accepted changes; Investigating issues and preparing complex and sensitive correspondence relating to patient care activities. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B. or J.D., if related. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond one (1) full year of graduate level education. One year of full-time graduate education is considered to be the number of credit hours that the school attended has determined to represent 1 year of full-time study. If that information cannot be obtained from the school, 18 semester hours should be considered as satisfying the 1 year of full-time study requirement. Part-time graduate education is creditable in accordance with its relationship to a year of full-time study at the school attended. Combinations of successfully completed education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements, and may be computed by first determining the total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; then determining the education as a percentage of the education required for the grade level; and then adding the two percentages. The total percentages must equal at least 100 percent to qualify. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and Management Attention to Detail Decision Making Forward Thinking Leadership Critical Thinking 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 majority of work is performed in an office setting, primarily while seated. The position requires some standing, ambulation, bending, and carrying of items such as training manuals. The incumbent is required to sit for long periods of time at a computer terminal typing data while having face to face contact with Veterans and answering the telephone. In addition, there can be increased stress due to the intensity-of a patient/customer complaint or concern. There is some walking through the medical center with occasional lifting of objects such as suitcases, clothing, medical charts, or office supplies 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.

Transcripts must be official or unofficial college transcripts. A copy of your certificate/degree or screenshot of your current classes are not a replacement of your transcript and they will not be used in the qualifying process. Your transcript must include your name and the name and full address of the institution.

If the position has an education requirement or you are qualifying based on education, you need to list your education history including the type of degree and your major of study. If the position requires a certain number of credit hours, you are strongly encouraged to list the relevant courses in your resume.

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 Northern Indiana HCS 1700 East 38th Street Marion, IN 46953 US
• Name: Holli Walker
• Phone: 832-350-4150
• Email: [email protected]