Clarification from the agency

This job is open to all current and permanent employees at the Lexington VA Healthcare System and CBOCs aligned under Duty Station #596. (Duty Station information can be found in block 40 on your most recent SF-50 and to be eligible for this vacancy the first 3 alpha-numeric characters in block 40 must read 596.)

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Duties include, but not limited to:

• Responsible for providing advisory and technical assistance to Veterans and their families, professional staff members, other VA Medical Centers, and community providers regarding procurement of medical services
• Must be knowledgeable of all facets of the various programs performed in the CITC Service
• Knowledge of services covered under the program for care that is authorized under the Mission Act, COMPACT Act, PACT Act, Unauthorized (U.S.C. 1128), Pre-authorized (U.S.C. 1703), and Veterans Millennium (Mill) Healthcare Bill (U.S.C. 1725)
• Coordinates activities within the assigned programs to include monitoring Veterans Care Agreements, eligibility determination, and budget impacts
• Responsible for identification of Veteran needs, analyzing availability of services, ascertaining sources of services, procuring services, and coordinating receipt of services
• Reviews community provider billing and payment information
• Monitors usage of care in specific programs
• Tracks budget impacts
• Requests or makes adjustments to fund control points
• Ensures quality of services provided
• Interacts with peers, internal customers and external customers in a manner that portrays a positive service and facility
• Utilizes strong interpersonal skills, tact, and professionalism at all times
• Reviews, utilizes, and analyzes a variety of VA generated reports including the Active Pending Report, No Activity Report, Weekly Throughput Report and Consult Activity Measures Report
• Responsible for quality, accuracy, and timely submission of all assigned reports.
• Serves as a Service Level Advocate (SLA) for the CITC Service
• Responsible for developing, monitoring, and adjusting the budget Service Fund Control Points related to the program
• Ascertains budget requirements based on analysis of previous service provided, trends in treatment, statistical information, tracking of costs, and projected patient workload
• Provides information on potential impact, proposed adjustments, and justification for changes to budget.
• Participates in budget calls and coordinates budget requests or adjustments with the Fiscal Service
• Opens and distributes mail and correspondence
• Directs phone calls and inquiries
• Responsible for copying, scanning, faxing, and preparing correspondence, as well as, maintaining files and records
• Maintains supply levels for daily use and orders any required supplies as needed
• Serves as the Records Liaison Officer (RLO) for the CITC Service
• Prepares reports, attends meetings, and supports inspections related to this assigned duty
• Utilizes a variety of software and database packages in support of the program such as: VISTA, Patient Registration, Integrated Fund Control, CPRS, REFDOC, Adobe Acrobat Pro, Secure Messaging, VEText, VA Online Scheduling (VAOS), Health Share Referral Manager (HSRM), Provider Profile Management System (PPMS), Enterprise Precision Scanning and Indexing (EPSI), Enterprise Cloud Fax (ECFax), Consult Tracking Manager Plus (CTM+) and the Patient Advocate Tracking System Replacement (PATS-R)
• Serves as the department Automated Data Process Application Coordinator (ADPAC) to ensure employee provisioning for initial computer access and training of users on relevant applications
• Responsible for protecting all data from unauthorized release or from loss, alteration, or unauthorized deletion
• Other duties as assigned

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Program Support Assistant (OA)/PD300350.

Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• 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.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary period or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your probationary period or trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 05/18/2026.

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 and/or education 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:
  • Thorough knowledge of medical and dental terminology, to include anatomy and physiology, as well as pharmaceuticals and prosthetics.
  • In depth or broad knowledge of a body of purchasing regulations, methods, procedures, and business practices to make purchases involving (1) specialized requirements and/or (2) commercial requirements that have unstable price or product characteristics, hard-to-locate sources, many critical characteristics, or similar complicating factors.
  • Knowledge of bill of collection and appropriate use of VA Billing Forms, Standard Form (SF) SF1080, SFL081, and SF1 114.
  • Knowledge of traditional and contemporary medial settings and services.
  • Knowledge of eligibility requirements, laws, and regulations pertaining to the receipt and entitlement of medical care at VA facilities.
  • Knowledge of eligibility requirements, laws, and regulations pertaining to the receipt and entitlement of medical care under the Care in the Community (CITC) program.
  • Knowledge of VA Consolidated Health Record (CHR) and the associated fee medical and dental files as well as the Privacy Act of 1974.
  • Knowledge of medical claims processing and the ability to meet customer inquiries timely.
  • Knowledge of billing processes through VA, as well as through the Third-Party Administrator (TPA).
  • Knowledge of Medical Care Cost Fund (MCCF) recovery processes.
  • Knowledge of the Federal Prompt Payment act as it pertains to timeliness of claims processing and payment of interest penalties for late processing of contractual payments.

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.

Preferred Experience:

• Previous experience in Veterans Affairs treatment programs and policies relating to eligibility.
• Complete knowledge of VA consolidated health record.
• Extensive experience in patient scheduling.
• Experience in providing excellent customer service.
• Incumbent should be able to load, edit, and retrieve information in VISTA.
• Incumbent should be able to exercise independence and adopt to changing needs and requirements of various CITC programs.
• Ability to provide analytical and statistical reports that will be used for management and budget decisions.
• Has extensive experience with CPRS, Vista, Outlook and MS Office programs.

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, requiring sitting, standing, walking, bending, and carrying of light objects. The position demands periods of intense concentration and the ability to maintain self-control in challenging and difficult situations.

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/.

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 WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE.

Narrative responses are not required at this time. If you are referred for consideration, you may be asked to submit additional job related information, which may include, but not limited to; responses to the knowledge, skills and abilities; completion of a work sample, and/or contact for an interview. Your resume and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect your rating or consideration for employment.

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.

For more information on the "Who may apply" eligibility requirements, please refer to the OHRM Status Candidates and Other Candidate Definitions document.

Placement Policy: The posting of this announcement does not obligate management to fill a vacancy or vacancies by promotion. The position may be filled by reassignment, change to lower grade, transfer, appointment, or reinstatement. Management may use any one or any combination of these methods to fill the 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.