The Health Systems Specialist is part of the Quality Management Team for the South Central VA Health Network (VISN 16). The position reports to the Quality Management Officer and their primary purpose is to provide oversight and execution on administrative policies, programs, and operations.

Duties

The duties of this position include, but are not limited to: Prepares communication to the Deputy Undersecretary for Health, Operations and Management (DUSHOM), agencies and organizations in response to inquiries on matters related to accreditation. Acts as a liaison or handles the communication with persons and groups within and outside of VISN 16. Serves as continuous accreditation readiness consultant for facility Quality Managers and their staff, VISN 16 Program Managers and VISN leadership. Develops review criteria and conducts on-site assessments and pre-occupancy reviews for accreditation purposes. Designs and coordinates clinical reviews and other types of site visits. Identifies and/or designs educational program to assist facilities with keeping abreast of changes in published standards. Gathers, inputs, organizes, develops and interprets data from available information sources. Work Schedule: 8:00am - 4:30pm, Monday thru 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/PD012780 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized. Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized.

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/31/2024. 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-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. 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. Individual Occupational Requirement: Applicants who meet the Individual Occupational Requirements described below are fully qualified for the specified entry grade and must also meet the specialized experience 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~ Specialized Experience: 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. ~OR~ Special Provision for In-service 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. In addition to meeting the above Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR), applicants must also meet the experience relevant to this position. 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-12 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Providing oversight and execution of accreditation programs at a facility level Independently handles issues related to accreditation, internal and external surveys. Developing a systematic approach to assess accreditation and external review readiness. Extracting and compiling data related to accreditation and external reviews and developing recommendations for leadership. Provides reports and presentations using a variety of computer software including word processing, spreadsheets, Excel and PowerPoint. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and ManagementAnalytical ThinkingCommunicationsTechnical Credibility 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 is primarily sedentary, although some slight physical effort may be required. 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.

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 VISN 16 South Central VA Health Care Network 715 S. Pear Orchard Road Ridgeland, MS 39157 US
• Name: Andrea Poulin
• Phone: 601-699-2905
• Email: [email protected]