The Transportation Specialist functions as a subject matter expert in all matters of beneficiary travel and modes of Veteran transport for the facility while reporting directly to the Chief of the Veterans Transportation Section (Mobility Manager), health Administration Services.

Duties

Duties include but not limited to: Veterans Transport Services: Assists in management of the VTP Program at the facility and aides in ensuring VTS Drivers/Motor Vehicle Operators provide safe and reliable transportation to Veterans who require assistance traveling to and from VA health care facilities and authorized non-VA health care appointments within the Medical Center's catchment area. Manages demand against available resources to increase access to medical care through the Medical Centers organic transportation resources. Collaborates with service providers in local communities to serve Veterans' transportation needs. The incumbent will serve as a secondary local administrator of the Vet Ride System and is assists in granting certain delegated access rights to facility staff. Assists the Chief, Transportation Section with completing the Needs, Resources and Stakeholders Assessment in collaboration with the other services represented on the VTP Board of Directors, as well as Veterans and community stakeholders. Assists the Mobility Manager in managing the appropriate utilization of the Vet Ride System, including all the Administrative Portal, the web based Veteran Trip Request Portal, the Third Party Contractor Portal and the Special Mode Tracker Module, ensuring all security and compliance measures are complied with by all staff the Mobility Manager authorizes to use the system. Assists the Mobility Manager with development, analysis, evaluation, advisement, and/or improvement of the effectiveness of work methods and procedures, organizations, manpower utilization, distribution of work assignments, delegation of authority, and information and documentation systems. In absence of the Mobility Manager, the incumbent acts as Subject Matter Expert (SME) advisor to Senior Medical Center Executive Leadership and managers and the Veterans Transportation Program regarding VHA directives, policy, Medical Center Memorandums, and Standard Operating Procedures to assure efficiency and customer satisfaction, including scheduling of activities, daily monitoring of the operations of the programs measuring outcome of services provided by reviewing and analyzing data, making recommendations for improved transportation efficiencies and effectiveness, reviewing patient satisfaction surveys, performance measures and operational costs. Assists in assuring and managing all patient transportation matters at the Medical Center and in collaboration with the VISN level to ensure policy and protocols are routinely followed. Ensures that the VTP Regulations are applied to all patient transportation performed by VA paid staff, with the exception of incidental transports performed by VHA clinical staff in the normal delivery of the routine clinical services. Beneficary Travel: Assists in orchestrating travel for the Medical Centers BT eligible enrollees through mileage reimbursement and contracted travel modes. Adjudicates mileage, lodging, meals, common carrier, SMT reimbursement requests, determines eligibility and processes payments for eligible Veterans in support of costs incurred while traveling to and from VA health care facilities. Responsible for forwarding all vouchers certified for payment to Fiscal for processing. Writes or selects appropriate letters explaining disposition of unauthorized travel claims and is responsible for explaining the regulatory guidelines to beneficiaries for submitting any unauthorized ambulance claims to the facility for consideration of payment. Responsible for coordinating work operation, assigning tasks, providing coverage and assuring that the work is completed in a timely manner. The incumbent oversees the processes for determining eligibility for beneficiary travel, processing requests for reimbursement for travel, maintaining fund control points within the travel office, coordinating and arranging transportation for eligible Veterans and the Patient Funds Program. Keeps the Mobility Manager/Travel Section Chief aware of any backlogs or unusual problems and routinely provides reports of work accomplishment and productivity to the Supervisor including determining which of several fund control points to utilize, obligating funds, maintaining manual and electronic accounting records, performing regular reconciliations and adjusting account balances. Contacts approving official to authorize obligations and requests for additions, deductions, and/or movement of funds. Makes necessary changes to fund control points. Maintains and controls filing system in accordance with VA regulations. The incumbent answers telephone inquiries regarding inquiries regarding mileage, eligibility for travel reimbursement and amount of reimbursement from other VA facilities, social worker and medical staff. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Position Description/PD#: Transportation Specialist/PD200010 Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 05/23/2024. 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: Experience and/or Education: Education Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- accounting, business administration, business or commercial law, commerce, economics, engineering, finance, industrial management, statistics, traffic management, transportation, motor mechanics, or other fields related to the position. or Experience Must have one year experience at the next lower grade of GS 7. Examples of specialized experience include: Provide safe and reliable transportation to Veterans who require assistance traveling to and from VA health care facilities and authorized non-VA healthcare appointments within the Medical Center's catchment area. Determining eligibility for travel modes, scheduling of veteran's transportation via phone, in-person, or secure messaging, consult management, data collection, and tracking of trips. Assists in granting certain delegated access rights to facility staff. Answers telephone inquiries regarding inquiries regarding mileage, eligibility for travel reimbursement and amount of reimbursement from other VA facilities, social worker and medical staff. Prepares oral and written reports and presentations. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Analysis and Problem SolvingCommunicationCritical ThinkingEducation and TrainingKnowledge ManagementLikelihood of Success 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 which adequate light, heat and ventilation. Work is mostly sedentary, but requires some bending, walking, standing, lifting and carrying of light items such as reports to various areas of the Medical Center. Working at the computer for long periods of time and accessing information from the various computer systems is necessary. Typical office setting is subject to noise caused by multiple visits by staff, equipment and telephone interruptions when performing various functions on a daily basis. The work requires no special physical demands. Travel will be required on a periodic basis. 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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Contacts

• Address Huntington VA Medical Center 1540 Spring Valley Drive Huntington, WV 25704 US
• Name: Tianna Miller
• Email: [email protected]