Lead Patient Services Assistant
What you'd do
This position serves as a Lead Patient Services Assistant for the Health Administration Service of the Salt Lake City VA Healthcare System.
Major duties
Duties include, but are not limited to: Lead in the Patient Benefits Service (PBS) which is a department within Health Administration Service (HAS). This position is the Lead over Program Support Assistants (Enrollment Clerks) within Patient Benefits Service (PBS). Provide on-the-job training to new enrollment and eligibility employees in accordance with established procedures and practices. Instruct PBS employees on changes in work procedures; provide written instructions/documentation of changes. Maintain current informational knowledge base and answer questions of other PBS employees on procedures, policies, directives, etc. and obtain need information or decisions from supervisor on problems that arise. Handle enrollment complaints and questions from Veterans, Caregivers, Staff and refers to supervisor more complex issues. Assist the Enrollment Supervisor with the hiring process following HR guidelines to include reviewing applications/resume, interviewing, reference checks, etc. Assist the Enrollment Supervisor as an Administrative Advisor to staff. Interpret VA Regulations, Directives and the CFR as it relates to the clinical and registration/admission unit staff in addition to creative problem solving. Ensure accurate collection of statistics from the unit for workload reports. Assist in enrollment congressional inquiries, investigate the impact of new directives, guidelines and Medical Center Memorandums and suggest processes that need to be implemented or changed to assure compliance with policy changes. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Lead Patient Services Assistant/PD11645A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
What you need to qualify
To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 07/06/2026. 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-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06. 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. 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-06 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Extensive knowledge with matters pertaining to the administrative aspects of patient care and Veteran medical benefits; working knowledge of the processes of Patient Services Assistants, Program Support Assistants and Data Clerks of the enrollment department; ability to assess workload at any given time and assist all staff and/or redistribute workload; extensive knowledge of Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), Veteran Health Administration (VHA) directives and laws governing VA medical benefits and the overall programs related to the health care delivery system; knowledge of the Privacy Act and Freedom of Information Act; ability to refer inquiries of situations pertaining to any element within his/her jurisdiction to a manual or other VA reference to produce an acceptable resolution; knowledge and ability to locate, extract, and present information in a clear and effective language so decisions may be made to best achieve facility goals; knowledge of the various facts of demographics, eligibility, and means test data that are necessary to capture all off-station Veteran functions, and how the information impacts workload, Uniques and the medical center's congressional budgetary allocations; ability to provide accurate information to management, employees and patients regarding Veteran benefits such as: applications and/or admissions to inpatient and/or outpatient status, nursing home care, and beneficiary travel benefits; comprehensive knowledge of the total VA health care operational structure and of the resources that are available to this facility; understanding of the functions and responsibilities of other sections of the Health Administration Service is essential; competent in determining eligibility pertaining to inpatient and outpatient care, death benefits, non-VA treatment, beneficiary travel benefits, etc.; knowledge to assess documentation for accuracy, ability to review data with supervisor, and skill in determining corrective actions; competent in developing monitors and skilled in oral and written communication with a variety of people from different background and different levels of understanding; knowledge of Department of Veterans Affairs, Oklahoma VA Health Care System and Business Office goals and strategic and performance improvement plan in order to ensure goals are compatible; practical knowledge to recognize potential workload problem resulting from shortages of personnel and be prepared to develop and suggest corrective measures to the Supervisor; ability to perform in stressful situations, be astute in making judgment and maintain high productivity standards under situations of emotional pressure and extreme workload demand. 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/.
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