The Health System Specialist is assigned to the Ambulatory Care Service (ACS), CARA Pain Management Team, or CARA PMT at the Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center. The incumbent is assigned to provide professional services to any/all program areas that are covered by ACS including acute care, long term care, and outpatient settings under the supervision of the Section Chief for the CARA Pain Team or a designee of the Section Chief.
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/07/2025. 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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. 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. Preferred Experience: VHA Admin experience as Administrative Officer or Business Manager/Program Analyst. 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-11 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: 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.. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Administration and Management Customer Service Manages and Organizes Information Organizational Awareness 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: No special physical demands such as above average ability, dexterity, or strength are required to perform the work. Work is sedentary, and the employee may sit comfortably. There may be some walking, standing, bending, carrying of light items, driving of an automobile, etc. Fieldwork may involve traveling to other facility sites of care, interviews, meetings, and sources of information. 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/.
Functions as Health System Specialist in the CARA PMT within ACS and the Chief of Staff (COS) executive leadership chain of command. Coordinates with others in the facility to oversee and facilitate responses and action items specific to pain and pain related care for the facility to support continuity of healthcare delivery operations. Plans, organizes, compute trends, and reviews requests for resources within the CARA program and makes recommendations. Assist in prioritizing resource allocations throughout the CARA program in conjunction with other staff. Assists the CARA Program Director and ACS leadership team in assessing needs in a realistic fashion, documenting them effectively, and presenting them to a diverse audience of internal and external stakeholders. Point out errors, incomplete or inconsistent data, and illogical arguments or conclusions. Reviews resources requests for FTEE, Equipment, Overtime, and Space, and keeps abreast of the medical center budget, budget restraints, and forecasts needs based on regional market trends. Develops a thorough, administrative, and strategic operational initiatives for the CARA pain program. Provides organizational and administrative oversight of two facility wide large committees related to Integrated Pain, Opioid Safety, and Prescription Drug Monitoring Programming. Works closely with facility Pain Management, Opioid Safety, and Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PMOP) Pain Triad. Participate and lead fact-finding and administrative board of investigations. Participate in determining the need for an investigation, or the appropriate scope or type of investigation, and on behalf of Convening Authorities may consult with other VA officials and General/Regional Counsel. Conducts analytical studies on CARA pain program processes, issue topics, or related special projects. Reviews policies and procedures that are in conformance with the overall philosophy of the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) related to all aspects of the CARA pain program. Reviews CARA pain program initiatives, justifies and defends the clinical or administrative service/programs to the Medical Center Director as needed. Provides guidance and advice on program specific matters such as handling legislative issues, development and implementation of policy or program initiatives, protocol issues, and other important correspondence or VISN/VACO/PMOP related matters. Coordinates and participates in strategic planning within CARA, Chief of Staff Office, and Ambulatory Care Service and programs within COS chain and scope of command. Works closely with other facility/VISN elements on project development and submission. Makes recommendations regarding necessity of the project, and what elements are to be included in the scope of the project based on local, VISN, or national strategic initiatives and alignment. Reviews audits and evaluations which are conducted at the facility. Works closely with Quality, Safety, EEO, Human Resources, Finance, Compliance and Business Integrity, Veteran Experience, Information Technology and Security and Public Affairs. Deals with problems arising from quality-of-care issues and consumer complaints arising from individual patients, Veterans groups, Congressional offices, and other stakeholders. Obtain data and prepares replies to correspondence to be routed for the signature of the appropriate Executive Leadership team member. Serves as the primary liaison on behalf of all elements of the CARA pain program between the VISN and headquarters. Function as an advocate for assigned team members within the program and ACS service; and effectively and accurately represents their needs, problems, and programs. Resolves problems through personal contacts, obtains expedited decisions on urgent matters, and otherwise assists the ACS service & CARA pain program in obtaining responsive action for their requests. Monitors current developments and trends in healthcare delivery and administration, ACS, and the CARA pain program, and to make improved concepts available to the services/programs within their chain of command. Maintain a broad knowledge of improved healthcare operations issues, updates equipment, construction techniques, etc., that may be helpful to senior management. Assesses current and proposed policies and procedures and identifies aspects which make such policies unrealistic or unworkable. Leads and participates in taskforce or research groups to analyze problem areas and recommends adjustments to improve existing policy or procedure to achieve desired results. Performs other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday thru Friday, 7:30am - 4:00pm Telework: Ad-hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Health System Specialist/PD147350 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized