This Program Specialist position is located in the Quality Management Service at the Togus location. This position is full time at 40 hours per week.

Duties

Duties include but are not limited to: Plans and implements accreditation and regulatory functions related to performance management and quality improvement programs. Participates and tracks continuous survey readiness with services, service lines, programs and medical staff functions. Performs duties directly supporting the quality management specialists in the area of performance improvement management of healthcare delivery systems. Provides assistance on administrative matters related to patient care, education and organizational policy. Organizes hospital education programming as it relates to quality management strategies including tracking vital information for regulatory and accreditation compliance. Facilitates management teams in planning, organizing, developing, directing and evaluating hospital performance improvement operations. Develops, plans, monitors and evaluates effectiveness of work methods and procedures, information and documentation systems and similar functions of healthcare system management. Coordination of performance measurement and quality improvement programs to assure accreditation and regulatory success such as Joint Commission, CARF, CAP, OIG, VASQUIP and others. Organize and facilitate the development of healthcare system policies, including training on these policies as appropriate. Coordinate with other departments to publicize quality improvement activities to spread knowledge of important clinical and administrative issues. Leads or facilitates interdisciplinary healthcare system level committees or teams. Considers all aspects of new or established programs, including statutes, policies, objectives, workload models, resource estimates and utilization, issues, constraints, impacts and concerns related to other organizational components. Perform continuous survey readiness activities for all applicable accreditation and regulatory bodies. Complete data entry for nationally required reporting including SPOT, NSQIP, Peer Review Tracking, others as appropriate. Communicates and coordinates all correspondence, meetings, etc. with QM coordinator for accreditation and regulatory bodies. Prepares, monitors and maintains all required documentation for continuous survey readiness for all applicable accreditation and regulatory bodies. Facilitates timely and substantial submission of all evidence of standards compliance, measures of success and/or supportive documentation to close open recommendations from applicable accrediting and regulatory bodies. Facilitates required changes to appropriate healthcare system policies, committees or other appropriate venues for all performance improvement related changes. Establishes and maintains good communication with other staff in facility, VISN, VA network and the community. Develops procedures and systems for establishing, operating, and assessing the effectiveness of administrative control systems and line or operating programs; and the accomplishment, evaluation, and/or monitoring of audits, inspections, or management or internal control reviews. Resolves audit/inspection activities for organizations region wide. Performs analysis and evaluation, on a quantitative or qualitative basis, the effectiveness of programs or operations in meeting established goals and objectives. Performs analysis and evaluation of program financial, technical, procurement, and scheduling information. Oversees suggestion and award, quality, and/or productivity programs. Oversees productivity programs in multi-mission/program organizations. Performs other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 7:30 am to 4:00 pm Telework: Authorized. Ad-Hoc Telework Ad-Hoc work can be performed on an as needed basis anywhere other than a VA facility or using VA-leased space (example: home). Position Description/PD#:Program Specialist/PD028540 Relocation or Travel Incentives: Not Authorized Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not Required Notifications: This position is an AFGE Bargaining Unit position. The incumbent may be required to travel to other VA campuses and CBOC's. Selectee may be required to work at any VISN 1 Healthcare System campus, as needed. Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent SF-50 (Notice of Personnel Action). The SF-50 must identify the position title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (Competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held. This position is in the Competitive Service. Time-in-Grade Restriction: 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. The grade may have been in any occupation but must have been held in the Federal service. Veterans' preference does not apply for other current permanent Federal agency employees.

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/22/2024. 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-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: assisting in healthcare delivery performance and patient care improvement programs, and other healthcare quality management programs; ensuring health care operations are compliant with accrediting and regulatory bodies; evaluating the effectiveness of healthcare work methods and procedures; and performing quantitative and qualitative analysis and evaluation regarding the effectiveness of programs or operations. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree. 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 1 year of graduate level education. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Customer ServiceFlexibilityInformation ManagementManages and Organizes InformationPerformance Measurement 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, being performed for the most part in an office setting with occasional requirements to lift, bend, and carry books, supplies and files. The individual will be required to be seated at a computer console for extended periods and be able to enter and review information displayed on a television type monitor. 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.

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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Contacts

• Address Togus VA Medical Center 1 VA Center Augusta, ME 04330 US
• Name: Krista Beacham
• Phone: (210) 975-7087
• Email: [email protected]