Represents the Medical Center Director and the Chief, Health Administration Service on all administrative matters occurring when assigned to other than a normal tour of duty; acts on behalf of the Medical Center Director in (non-policy making) administrative matters; maintains continuity of functions and provides full health administrative support during other than normal tours of duty to clinical and administrative Medical Center staff.

Duties

Major duties may include but are not limited to: Delegated full authority and responsibility to exercise the Medical Center Director's prerogative in medical administrative matters and issues that may arise; represents management in (non-policy making) administrative matters; represents management in matters pertaining to the lawful retention of veterans in the VAMC; maintains continuity of functions and provides full medical administrative support during other than normal tours of duty to clinical and administrative medical center staff; is responsible for achieving management objectives and supporting the decision of management in carrying out duties; and provides technical guidance necessary to meet procedural, legal, and administrative requirements relating to the care and treatment of patients to achieve optimum use of available resources. Delegated full authority for administrative activities occurring during irregular tours. Interprets VA rules and regulations relating to determining legal entitlement to benefits relating to hospital admission; nursing home, dental, domiciliary, Community Care, and outpatient care; dental treatment; prosthetic appliances; patient transfer; and beneficiary travel. Authorized as certifying officer for documents pertaining to the administration of laws concerning VA. Coordinates the resolution of medical legal problems concerning the medical center. Ensures that appropriate legal, regulatory, and policy requirements are met. Processes administrative issues surrounding beneficiary death, seriously ill cases, elopements, suicides, assaults, deaths on arrival, homicides, code blue, cost recovery matters, and facility or community disasters, etc. Determines the appropriateness of notifying the medical examiner of unusual deaths. Seeks clinical input and initiates process to contact affected parties and reschedule where appropriate. Assists in responding to emergencies, determines priorities and nature of action to be taken; authorizes services, supplies, and personnel; notifies authorities as situation dictates. Implements search plan for missing patients; informs next-of-kin of search status, as appropriate. Observes for safety, potential problems, and takes corrective action. Assists with computer issues during non-business hours. Coordinates non-routine contacts received at the medical center after regular operating hours. Receives and responds to non-routine patient condition inquiries and other administrative inquiries from concerned veterans, families, visitors, law enforcement officials, representatives from private hospitals, veterans service organization representatives, VA Central Office, Congressional offices, military personnel, private physicians, media, and the general public. Oversees determination of applicants' eligibility; obtaining income and insurance information for appropriate nonservice-connected applicants; counseling nonservice-connected veterans to determine ability to defray costs of medical care elsewhere. Determines extent of release of medical or social data from patients' records. Safeguards and ensures rights of patient. May collect belongings, funds, or other personal effects of patients for safekeeping in accordance with facility procedure. Maintains good public and media relations as instructed and trained by the Public Affairs Officer until the designated employee arrives. Establishes and maintains liaison with Public Affairs Officer, whenever applicable. May release appropriate information to news media and public as approved by the Public Affairs Officer in accordance with VA regulations, VA medical center policy, and Privacy Act and Freedom of Information Act requirements. Monitors official VA HCS social media profiles during other than normal business hours and alerts appropriate Medical Center personnel to any findings that may appear suspicious or needs further attention. Responds to requests under Beneficiary Travel authorities and VA Veterans Transportation Service availability; makes appropriate arrangements. Facilitates urgent transportation for Veterans as needed, to include flights for VA organ transplant candidates being sent out of state. 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: 2:00 p.m. - 10:00 a.m. Shifts cover evenings, nights, weekends, and Holidays. Individual schedules will be discussed during the interview process and are subject to change based upon the needs of the Agency. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Medical Administration Specialist/PD99368S Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized 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, 06/25/2024. 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-7 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5. For a GS-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. 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-7 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-5 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: general knowledge of basic principles and practices applicable to VA policy and regulations, station directives, legal decisions, and state laws dealing with care and treatment of veterans and beneficiaries, admissions, discharges, scheduling, inpatient and outpatient policy, community care resources, procedures and coordination activities, domiciliary care, sharing agreements, legal detention, beneficiary travel, patient funds and valuables, death details procedures and burial benefits, compensation and Pension activities, medical and dental benefits, procedures, eligibility, and other administrative functions sufficient to perform highly structured, communicate factual and procedural information clearly, orally and in writing; OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 1 full year of graduate level education or achieved superior academic achievement. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. 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. TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. Combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements for the grade levels specified in the table, and may be computed by first determining the applicant's total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; then determining the applicant's 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 an applicant for that grade level. TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED GS-9 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-5 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Knowledge of a wide range of administrative concepts, principals, and practices such as Bed Management, Beneficiary Travel Service for claims management, ECAMs for ambulance and special mode claims, VES for Eligibility Enrollment and registration, Open Encounters management, Emergency management and incident command, and Public Affairs media management. Knowledge of Facility and Health Care System's objectives, goals, decisions, and policies. Knowledge of general principles of management and practices, techniques, and objectives of supervision. Knowledge of Federal and department personnel management policies and practices. Knowledge of medical center organization, functions, specialties, and programs, i.e., Social Work, Nursing, Laboratory, Radiology, etc. Knowledge of resources in surrounding community. Knowledge of medical and technical terminology. Knowledge of scheduling policies and Community Care Eligibilities. Administratively assisting the Admitting, Medical and Surgical Officers of the Day, determining eligibility and enrolling Veterans in VA health care, receiving and safeguarding patients' funds, valuables, and personal effects, administrative processing of patients' deaths occurring in the VA medical facility. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have have completed master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree. LL.B. or J.D., if related. Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree. TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED. OR Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. Combinations of successfully completed education beyond 1 year of graduate education. Combining Education and Experience: Combinations of successfully completed post-high school education and experience may be used to meet total qualification requirements for the grade levels specified in the table, and may be computed by first determining the applicant's total qualifying experience as a percentage of the experience required for the grade level; then determining the applicant's 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 an applicant for that grade level. Only graduate education in excess of the amount required for the next lower grade level may be used to qualify applicants for positions at grade GS-9. TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administrative and Management Legal, Government and Jurisprudence Analytical Reasoning Customer Service 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 requires much walking through the Medical Center with occasionally the requirement to lift objects such as suitcases, clothing, or medical charts. 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.

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.

Contacts

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