The incumbent of this position supports the facility-wide systems redesign program, national systems redesign initiatives funded through grants administered by the National Systems Redesign Office and other national VA program offices, and regional and national systems redesign initiatives coordinated through regional and national collaboratives. The incumbent reports directly to the Systems Redesign Supervisory Health System Specialist.

Duties

Principle Duties and Responsibilities: The incumbent takes on a leadership role in improving the healthcare delivery process, in the realms of quality, safety, effectiveness, and efficiency. The work requires primarily a high order of analytical ability combined with a comprehensive knowledge of the functions, processes, and principles of health care management; and methods used to gather, analyze, and evaluate information concerning the health care management process. Lead complex and far-reaching performance Improvement initiatives using systems engineering principles. The incumbent will take on a leadership role in organizing and conducting performance improvement efforts based on systems engineering principles such as but not limited to, Lean and Six Sigma. The incumbent will modify standard Lean and Six Sigma methodologies to fit into the healthcare environment in general and the organizational cultural transformation already underway at VAAAHS in particular. The incumbent will demonstrate creativity and in the integration of standard systems engineering improvement methodologies with existing organizational cultural transformation offo1ts. In this capacity, the incumbent is expected to not only lead performance specific improvement efforts but also train others. Provide consultative support on identifying appropriate process measures and monitors for quality and performance improvement based on systems engineering tools and principles. The incumbent will serve as an internal consultant to groups working to improve quality and performance by helping them identify the most appropriate measures and monitors to ensure quality outcomes. To this end, the incumbent will help performance teams develop process maps and identify steps critical to quality and identify data collection and analysis strategies to measure current system capabilities. Once critical to quality steps have been identified, the incumbent will work with teams to identify measurement and monitoring strategies that balances effort with effectiveness based on sound statistical analysis. Conduct studies based on systems engineering principles to optimize quality, safety, effectiveness, and efficiency in healthcare systems. These studies will , use a wide range of advanced analytical techniques, statistical methods, and systems engineering tools to collect baseline information, identify limitations in current systems, and discover potential improvements, The incumbent will develop statistical, graphical, and narrative reports and communicate these studies to medical center leadership and other staff. Ensure sustainability and spread of efforts directed at improving quality, safety, effectiveness, and efficiency using management engineering. The incumbent will collaborate with medical center leadership and management to ensure that improvements to processes spread to other work units and locations and that these improvements are sustained over time. To this end, the incumbent will develop methods for the measurement and assessment of spread and sustainability. The incumbent will work with other individuals and services to develop automated systems for tracking improvement (data trending, data dashboards, and balanced scorecards) and for monitoring project progress and completion (project management, "closing the loop"). The incumbent will provide oversight for national reporting activities. Plan and conduct studies directed at reducing errors due to cognitive overloading and human-eomputer interaction failure. The incumbent will work to identify systems design problems that contribute to human errors and then identify alternative systems and processes based on systems engineering principles to mitigate these types of errors. Plan and conduct analytical studies of management functions in support of improvements in organizational structure and staffing level efficiency. The incumbent will actively participate in VHA's efforts to create a culture of quality, safety, effectiveness, and efficiency by planning and conducting studies directed at identifying optimum staffing and management structures. Work Schedule: 8:00 am to 4:30 pm, Monday through Friday 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#: Health System Specialist/PD927910 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, 07/22/2024. 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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. NOTE: You must submit a copy of your most recent personnel action/SF-50. 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. Interchange Agreement: Applicants must be eligible under the VA Interchange Agreement, having served continuously for at least one year in the other merit system under this interchange agreement. For more information regarding the VA Interchange Agreement please visit: https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/hiring-authorities/competitive-hiring/. You may qualify based on your experience as described below: Basic Requirements: Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration. OR; General Experience: Work that required a knowledge of the basic principles and practices related to the management of a health care delivery system. Such experience may have been gained as an administrative officer, management analyst, or administrative or clinical program manager or supervisor in a health care delivery system. Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Progressively responsible analytical or administrative, or clinical management or supervisory experience in the health care field. This work may have been performed in an operating health care facility or a higher organizational echelon with advisory or directional authority over such facilities. Work must have involved a close working relationship with facility managers and analysis and/or coordination of administrative, clinical, or other service activities, and provided knowledge of the following: Missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems; Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; and Government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel, and procurement. Special Provision for Inservice Placement: Successful completion of an agency-sponsored on-the-job training program may be substituted for qualifying experience, provided it included a formal individualized training plan. Such a training program must have been conducted in an operating health care system and included: Assignments providing a knowledge of basic health system administration philosophies, practices, and procedures, and basic government administrative policies and requirements; Practical assignments providing an opportunity to apply health system administration skills and principles (as the individual progresses, work assignments must be characteristic of the grade level to which he or she is assigned); and Oversight by an experienced health system administrator with periodic evaluation of the individual's progress and appropriate adjustment of the training program. Preferred experience (not required): 2 Years of Systems Redesign or Formal Process Improvement work. Experience with leading people and teams. Regularly utilizes Change Management concepts in tandem with LEAN Six Sigma project work. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and ManagementAnalysis and Problem SolvingCommunicationOrganizational AwarenessOrganizational DevelopmentOrganizational Performance AnalysisSystems Engineering 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 some physical exertion, such as periods of standing when teaching; some walking, bending, crouching, stooping, stretching or similar activities when visiting work sites; and some moderate lifting and carrying. At other times, the work is sedentary requiring the use of a personal computer. 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 Ann Arbor VA Medical Center 2215 Fuller Road Ann Arbor, MI 48105 US
• Name: Autumn Snyder
• Phone: 989-306-3612
• Email: [email protected]