The position is located under the Veterans Transportation Service (VTS) at the Veterans Healthcare System of the Ozarks (VHSO). The Veterans Transportation Program (VTP) provides transportation or reimbursement for travel at Government expense to beneficiaries and their attendants traveling to and from VA facilities and other places for the purpose of examination, treatment, or care. The incumbent serves as the primary contact to Veterans and vendors for patient transportation needs.

Duties

Duties include but are not limited to: Uses the various Beneficiary Travel (BT) programs to process both mileage and transportation claims. Determines program eligibility and processes requests; fund control points, enters authorizations, maintains manual and electronic accounting records, performs regular reconciliations and adjusts account balances and tracking department budgets. Determines method of payment for authorized and unauthorized Special Mode Transport (SMT) claims submitted to the Electronic Claims Adjudication System (eCAMS) for consideration. Investigates orders and/or utilizes the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS), Joint Legacy Viewer (JLV), eCAMS, or any other appropriate medical reporting system to review medical records and locate authorizations. Creates transportation authorizations in both CPRS and Vista. Acts as liaison between vendors and Finance Department for invoices pending payment. Investigates authorizations, orders, and/or utilizes the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) to review medical records. Acts as liaison between vendors and Finance Department for invoices pending payment. Responsible for processing BT mileage/lodging/meals claims using the Beneficiary Travel Self Responsible for processing BT mileage/lodging/meals claims using the Beneficiary Travel Self Service System (BTSSS) using BT regulation and policy to determine eligibility and mileage. Responsible for explaining the regulatory guidelines to beneficiaries submitting any unauthorized SMT claims or mileage claims to VHSO for consideration of payment. Communicates and interacts with patients, has regular and recurring contact with personnel external to the agency for the obtainment of services, sharing of information and authorization, clarification or denial of payment. Performs work involving consult management, transport to appointment scheduling and transport to admission scheduling. Collects, compiles, and tracks data in support of the beneficiary travel program. Performs analysis of data and generates a variety of reports. Interacts with other transportation services such as Disabled American Veterans (DAV), taxi vendors, ground and air ambulance companies. Arranges all modes of transportation via air ambulance, commercial air, taxi, ambulance, bus, and/or contracted transportation services using appropriate programs including VetRide. Performs work involving consult management, dispatching transporters including VTS drivers and 3rd party vendors, and rerouting VTS drivers as necessary. Makes special arrangements per physician documentation according to traveler's medical condition and/or preference with a high priority emphasis on organ transplant patients, spinal cord injury (SCI), traumatic brain injury (TBI), and OEF/OIF/OND patients. Secures reservations and tickets from carriers. Forwards correspondence to receiving facility travel department and/or physician via itinerary or stated preferences with destination and time. Maintain communications with receiving facilities regarding beneficiaries return travel arrangements. Documents funds deposits and withdrawals of Veterans' personal funds held by the Medical Center during brief and extended periods of hospitalization. Work Schedule: Monday through Friday, 7:00 am - 3:30 pm (subject to change based on the needs of the agency) Telework: 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#: Transportation Assistant/PD03218A 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, 06/14/2024. 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-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. 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 as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Identifying problems, analyzing issues, developing solutions/resolutions and follow-up; working with beneficiary travel reimbursements; making determinations on ambulance bills, and determining eligibility and arranging transportation; office automation abilities; knowledge of how to organize and maintain documentation and records supporting beneficiary travel reimbursements and vendor payments; working with travel rules and regulations, Policy and Procedure Guides and working with eligibility rules and regulations. NOTE: This experience must be supported by your resume to be creditable. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Conflict ManagementCustomer ServiceFinancial ManagementInformation Assurance 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 duties and responsibilities of the position require some mobility between various clinic areas in separate building location sites, but generally the job is sedentary with some standing, stooping, reaching and lifting up to 20 pounds. The employee is required to work with computer equipment at least 75% of the time which impacts on hand and wrist motions. 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.

Contacts

• Address Fayetteville AR VA Medical Center 1100 North College Avenue Fayetteville, AR 72703 US
• Name: SooJin Rademacher
• Phone: 512-915-6978
• Email: [email protected]