The incumbent serves as the Beneficiary Travel Coordinator for the VA Roseburg Healthcare System (VARHS) and all Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) attached to the facility. Incumbent will perform key duties including: coordinating travel arrangements, counsel veterans and staff alike to ensure cost effectiveness, partnering with community to identify additional travel resources, resolving claims disputes, and educating veterans, families, and VA staff of travel benefits.

Duties

Major duties include, but are not limited to; He/she will independently manage the Beneficiary Travel Program for the VARHS and all CBOCs associated with this system. The Beneficiary Travel program provides transportation 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. This will include correctly determining eligibility for the program, and processing requests. It will also include correctly determining which of several fund control points to utilize, maintaining manual and electronic accounting records. Receives invoices for payment of transportation reimbursements and will oversee the completion from processing to issuance of reimbursement to the beneficiary. Tracks and researches all transactions pertaining to Beneficiary travel reimbursements and the validity of claims requested. Investigates authorizations, orders, and/or utilizes the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) to review medical records, forwards for supervisory approval and submits all documents for payment utilizing appropriate control point for reference. Responsible for reviewing all invoices submitted for payment on the On Line Certification System; additionally, incumbent is responsible for reviewing and forwarding all appropriate invoices to the Financial Services Center for processing through the On Line Certification System. Acts as liaison between vendors and the beneficiary of transportation Services for accident or incident reporting actions. Writes or selects appropriate letters explaining disposition of unauthorized travel claims. Responsible for explaining the regulatory guidelines to beneficiaries for submitting any unauthorized reimbursement claims to the VA Medical Center for consideration of payment. Corresponds with contracting officer regarding technical problems-or negotiates parts of contractual agreements, acting as the Contracting Officer Technical Representative (COTR) for the transportation contracts. Partners with community resources to identify and use alternate modes of transportation. Assesses, determines, and educates staff and veterans· of appropriate reimbursement rates. Arranges all modes of transportation via air ambulance, ground ambulance, wheelchair van, and/or secured transports. Prepares appropriate documentation and/or scheduling for traveler according to government rates or substantial rates. Makes special arrangements per physician documentation according to traveler's medical condition and/or preference. It is especially important that this care be coordinated in a timely fashion as it could delay patient care and treatment. May keep in touch with traveler enroute to resolve potential problems. Maintains communications with receiving facilities regarding beneficiaries return travel arrangements. Reviews requests for reimbursement of travel costs for the purpose of assuring compliance with regulations and procedures, completeness, accuracy, internal consistency, and agreement with basic authorization. Reconciles vouchers against authorizations for accuracy prior to preparing certifications for payment. Communicates and interacts with patients in a manner which is appropriate to cognitive, emotional, and chronological maturation needs of the adult and/or geriatric patient. Documents and prepares monthly account synopsis for contracting officials in Acquisition & Materiel Management Service quarterly to justify yearly ambulance contractual compliance. Documents and prepares statistical ambulance reports to supervisor upon request for fiscal year budget. Maintains and controls filing system in accordance with VA regulations. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 08:00am to 4:30pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Transportation Assistant/PD301380 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement, 08/16/2024. 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 within 30 days of closing 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: Knowledge of beneficiary travel reimbursements; This includes funds for mileage payments, ambulance, wheelchair van, and secured transport for authorized and unauthorized claims; Must have office automation abilities, to include knowledge of email system, MS Office, spreadsheets and other equipment; Prepares correspondence to veterans concerning eligibility and counsels veterans who do not meet criteria for transportation reimbursement; Knowledge on how to extract information and mileage from a road atlas and city street maps and the ability to interpret contracts for transportation services; Knowledge of transportation contracts for special mode transports. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Critical ThinkingCustomer Service (Clerical/Technical)Database AdministrationSelf-Direction 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 no special physical demands, but will require some physical effort such as standing, walking, bending or sitting. 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 Roseburg VA Medical Center 913 Northwest Garden Valley Boulevard Roseburg, OR 97471 US
• Name: Patricia Murphy
• Phone: (505) 265-1711 X3703
• Email: [email protected]