Summary The position is located at the Alaska VA Healthcare System (AVAHS) in the Community Care Department (CCD). The CCD Health System Specialist (HSS) provides programmatic data gathering, analysis, guidance, and support for healthcare management to the department. Works collaboratively with both clinical and administrative staff, covering all specialties of care in managing the Community Care Program and related projects/applications. Responsibilities Responsible for overall planning, organizing, coordinating, implementing, directing, integrating, controlling, and evaluating assigned programs or projects related to Community Care. Recommends guiding processes and principles for the effective use of CCD resources to support Care in the Community (CITC). Implements changes in the delivery of community care. Acts as a resource and coordinator for planning, reviewing, developing, or revising policies and procedures that impact healthcare delivered in the community. Serves as a Subject Matter Expert and POC for Community Care procedures and functions related to the VA's Electronic Health Record (HER). Ensures CCD staff are trained and advised on changes affecting the EHR. Provides clinical, fiscal, and administrative data to support the program. Determines pertinent issues and collects relevant information from a wide variety of sources regarding Community Care resource utilization. Performs other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday to Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm Position Description Title/PD#: Health System Specialist/PD504710 and PD504700 Physical Requirements: The work is generally sedentary but requires some walking, standing, carrying of light office items, and considerable use of a computer. Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level. Requirements Conditions of Employment Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements within 30 days of the closing date of this announcement. Basic Requirement for ALL applicants: Individual Occupational Requirement (IOR): An IOR is a basic requirement that must be met in order to qualify for the 0671 occupational series. All applicants, regardless of grade level must meet minimum education requirements or specialized experience. For this occupation, the education must be accredited by an accrediting body recognized by the U.S. Department of Education at the time the degree was obtained. To qualify for this occupational series, applicants MUST have one of the following listed below: Possess a bachelors or graduate/higher level degree with a major study in hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration. (Transcripts Required) 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. Successfully completed an agency-sponsored on-the-job training program which 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 the IOR, you must qualify based on your experience and /or education as described below: GS-09 Minimum Qualifications: Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-07 grade level in the federal service); experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) and other characteristics to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes: Provide clinical, fiscal, and administrative data to support the department. Develop specific data collection and analysis strategies for all aspects of the program. Knowledge of modern healthcare delivery standards. Knowledge of the operations of Email, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and other MS Office or related software programs, and the Electronic Health Record Modernization program. Knowledge of using software programs related to Community Care functions, such as Health Services Research & Development Management or Customer Relationship Management tool and understanding how these programs communicate/share data with the EHR. OR Education. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed a master's or equivalent graduate degree or successfully completed two (2) full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, LL.B or J.D. in a related field of the position to be filled (i.e., hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration). Education at the graduate level must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. OR Combination. Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education of successfully completed graduate level education (beyond the first year) and specialized experience as described above, to meet the total experience requirements. The education portion must include graduate courses that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do to the work of this position (i.e. hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as course work in health care administration). This education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university. GS-11 Minimum Qualifications: Specialized Experience: One year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-09 grade level in the federal service); experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) and other characteristics to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes: Gather data/analyze problems, issues, or program requirements to provide analytical summaries, recommendations and solutions. Serves as a consultant for all aspects of the department, both with internal and external partners to support strategic planning and process improvement activities. This includes participating in planning sessions, providing relevant data analysis, tracking, evaluating, and reporting on program status, and making recommendations to support these activities. Knowledge of program objectives, functions, procedures, and major issues, especially related to referral processes, community care network requirements, healthcare contracts/sharing agreements, claims, budgets, and the Electronic Health Record Modernization program system. Must have a strong understanding of the specific duties, needs, and concerns of both clinical and administrative healthcare staff. Specific knowledge of multiple computer operations and computer software programs to capture data for analyzing complex information, tracking metrics, and developing recommended solutions to program issues. Knowledge of using software programs related to the department functions, such as Health Services Research & Development Management or Customer Relationship Management tool and understanding how these programs communicate/share data with the EHR. OR, Education: To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree or 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., if related. To be creditable, the major must have been in hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED). OR, Combination: You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond graduate level (less than one year, and have more than two years, but less than three years of graduate education (as described above). (First two years of graduate study are not qualifying for GS-11.) The total computed percentage of these requirements is at least 100%. (TRANSCRIPT REQUIRED) Preferred Experience: 3-5yrs minimum with Data analysis 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. Additional Information 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. As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1-year probationary 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, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act. The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced VA competitive service employees with selection priority over other candidates for competitive service vacancies. To be well-qualified, applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors if applicable, and must be proficient in most of the requirements of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website which can be found at https://www.opm.gov/. Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.