Duties

Duties and responsibilities for this position include, but not limited to the following:

• Delegated full authority of the Chief, Health Administration Service, for administrative activities occurring on tour.
• Interprets VA rules and regulations relating to determining legal entitlement to benefits relating to hospital admission, nursing home, dental, domiciliary, Non-VA Care, and outpatient care, dental treatment, patient transfer, 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 (DOA's), homicides, Code Blue, cost recovery matters, and facility or community disasters, etc.
• Assumes control of communications and notification in event of local and civil disasters, in accordance with local facility disaster plan.
• Provides administrative authority, guidance and advice to Medical Officer of the Day (MOD) and all other clinical staff concerning administrative matters necessary for operation of the Medical Center during other than normal tours.
• Provides orientation and situational technical advice to physicians regarding VA policies and procedures.
• Assists Medical Center staff with medically related legal problems, including involuntary commitments orders of protective custody, and management of unruly or severely disturbed patients.
• Performs administratively as the MOD does for clinical matters, working as a team to carry out top management responsibilities during other than regular working hours.
• Promotes harmonious working relationship among patients, public, and staff.
• Directly intervenes when problems regarding patient activity occur, advising clinical staff of appropriate administrative action.
• Observes, evaluates, and coordinates administrative activities with IRMS, Engineering, Laboratory, Radiology, Nursing and Environmental Management personnel, among others. 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.

Work Schedule: This position operates during the irregular hours, nights, holidays, and weekends through three different tours of duty on rotation. Tours are 8a-4p, 4p-12a. 12a-8a.
Telework: Not available.
Position Description/PD#: Medical Admin Assistant/PD002587
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized.
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized.
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required.

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to background/security investigation
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)
• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/24/2022.

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-6. 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-6 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: a working and detailed knowledge of the functions of all positions for which he or she is responsible is required of the incumbent; thorough knowledge and understanding of VA regulations, laws, policies and procedures which relate to the operations within the unit and those which affect the operations of the other units within the Health Administration Service; possess basis knowledge of legal entitlement to VA benefits; medical, dental and prosthetics; knowledge of the VISTA computer system is essential to facilitate and monitor employee work performance and standards: to develop and/or apply existing VISTA computer applications and software programs which impact the outpatient encounters and patient demographic information as well as those computer programs which may be utilized for abstracting pertinent patient data and workload statistics for management reporting purposes; possess and demonstrate knowledge of specific programs and services provided at the Medical Center and the Medical College of Virginia Sharing Agreement to insure internal and external patient referrals are coordinated accurately and timely; knowledge of OPM and personnel programs: i.e., EEO, time attendance and leave policies, performance issues, employee competencies; possess and demonstrate exceptional skills and abilities in meeting and dealing with a myriad of internal and external customers, staff, and representatives; possess the ability to coordinate multiple administrative tasks and to independently prioritize work assignments and unit goals; possess a basic knowledge of the Medical Center's reimbursable insurance program and Veterans co-pay responsibilities in order to covey basic understanding to our Veterans and make appropriate referral to specific subject matter experts when necessary.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Accountability
• Clerical
• Customer Service
• Decision Making
• Forward Thinking

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 sitting and standing, as well as, frequent walking throughout the Medical Center. The position requires considerable writing, reading, and computer activities.

Work Environment: The work is performed primarily in a clinical setting. The employee's duties, especially training, will necessitate periodic visits to all areas within the unit.

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.

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 .

Additional information

The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified : applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/ .

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process.

If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application .