Clarification from the agency

Open to US Citizens--Public--VETERANS PREFERENCE IS WAIVED FOR THIS OCCUPATIONAL SERIES IAW Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO) BULLETIN "FY25 Staffing Shortage Determinations" dated: 10/1/2024.

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This position is located at the Miami VA Medical Center, Miami, FL. The tour of duty is 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, Monday through Friday, or will be established based on demand of the work area. The incumbent is expected to present to work in a professional manner in accordance with acceptable workplace behavior and established tours of duty. Assignments at this level include, but are not limited to:

• Develops and maintains effective and efficient communication with the patient, interdisciplinary team, VA Medical Centers, and other agencies.
• Work within the team to set team priorities and deadlines, adjusting the flow and sequencing of the work to meet team and patient needs.
• Assures that all visitors and telephone calls are answered and referred in a prompt and courteous manner.
• Perform scheduling, canceling, re-scheduling of patient appointments and or consults.
• Maintains and monitors patient appointment schedules for the clinic and communicates delays to the appropriate staff and patients.
• Analyzes situations to determine what decisions can be made or if advise of higher authority is needed.
• Resolves complaints of a local administrative nature and refers other complaints to appropriate authorities.
• Updates and verifies demographic information.
• Provides information regarding clinic and hospital policies, procedures, and locations to patients, family members, and staff.
• Maintains patient's confidential records, copies, and file documentation.
• Review Consults to ensure eligibility for Community Care.
• Schedule Consults and create referral authorizations.
• Scans and enters information into VISTA, CPRS.

Work Schedule: Work Schedule: 8:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday- Subject to change with management discretion to accommodate the needs of the VA Mission.
Functional Statement #: 30456-F
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Recruitment Incentive available for those highly qualified newly appointed applicants.

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.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• 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. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).

Qualifications

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Experience and Education.
• Experience. Six months experience of clerical, office, customer service, or other administrative work that indicates the ability to acquire the particular knowledge and skills needed to perform the duties of the position;
• OR,

Grade Determinations:
Specialized Experience. One-year equivalent to at least next lower grade level (GS-679-05)

Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with active professional laboratory practice. Examples of specialized experience are: Assisting with clinic access contingency plans by adjusting appointment times, location, or dates as well as shift patients to other healthcare providers as conflict with staffing and/or coverage occurs; updating demographic information, scheduling appointments, collection insurance information, data entry, administratively managing consultation requests, and electronic wait list, and notifying the patient of his/her appointment; developing and maintaining specific reports used by the patient care team to monitor, track and trend care delivery as well as participating and leading quality improvement efforts focused on cost, access, quality and customer satisfaction; etc...

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. Candidates must demonstrate the KSAs below:
1. Ability to collaborate, communicate, set priorities, and organize the work in order to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations.
2. Ability to communicate tactfully and effectively, both orally and in writing, in order to meet program objectives. This may include preparing reports in various formats and presenting data to various organizational levels.
3. Advanced knowledge of the technical health care process as it relates to access to care.
4. Advanced knowledge of managing a clinic. This includes independently utilizing reference sources, decision making, and empowering the team to collaborate and resolve problems within a complex systems environment.
5. Advanced knowledge of policies and procedures associated with operational activities that affect the patient flow, patient care, and the revenue process.
6. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians.

B. QUALITY RANKING FACTOR:
Preferred experience: It is highly desirable that candidates for these positions meet the following criteria:

CUSTOMER SERVICE:

• Interaction with patients/customers in a Medical/Clinical setting either by face to face or over the phone
• Experience dealing with a diverse group of individuals when providing pertinent/general medical/clinical information
• 3 -plus years of customer service style training
• Your Resume must detail your experience as mentioned above to be considered attainment of such highly desirable experience.

QUALIFICATION STANDARDS: VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G45, dated June 7, 2012. This standard is available for review or you may access this standard through the internet at the following address: http://vaww1.va.gov/ohrm/T38Hybrid/QualStandards.htm.

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 mostly sedentary in nature, requires non-routine walking, bending, and lifting of objects of 15-25 lbs.

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/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS 6.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

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.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.