Summary The Program Support Assistant assigned to the Connected Care Program in the Albany Stratton VAMC is under the direct supervision of the Connected Care Facility Manager/Facility Telehealth Coordinator. This is a pivotal position, where the incumbent is responsible for representing the medical center to Veterans, patients, family members of Veterans, congressmen, and other medical center providers both at the VA and in the community. Responsibilities Duties includes but is not limited to: Administrative Support Functions Maintains calendar of appointments for meetings, conference calls, and other various scheduled activities. Prepare travel requests, schedule conferences, coordinate meetings, and take minutes of various meetings pertaining to the Connected Care Program or any future assignments or projects. Submits requests for purchase of supplies that are required for the daily function of the Connected Care Program. He or she orders necessary equipment for the care line, as assigned, and assists other service lines in ordering process for the telehealth technology. Maintains program record system including both administrative and clinical data summary information in accordance with local facility record management guidelines. Supports deployment and implementation of new telehealth equipment and/or services aimed at improving service. Develops, promotes, and maintains effective communications with other services to enhance a mutual understanding and acceptance of responsibilities. Serves as point of contact for patients, medical center staff, Veterans Integrated Service Network staff, community agencies, and any others who contact the program office. Performs all clerical support duties required by the Connected Care team. Coordinates prioritization of work to ensure that work is completed in a timely manner. Performs typing and filing, prepares materials for publication such as pamphlets, certificates, forms, graphs, technical manuals, or comparable items. Provides data entry for all program and/or documents used or distributed by the Connected Care team including but not limited to VistA and MS Office software. Telehealth Program Functions Responsible for input of required data into telehealth programs utilizing various VHA databases within and outside the facility. Compile and prepare accurate reports of pending consults, patient needs, scheduling problems, as well as demand estimates. Serves as a key contact for the Telehealth Program, connecting Veterans and providers to a Telehealth encounter in the most effective and timely method, which requires extensive troubleshooting of various system and devices. Recommends and implements amendment of program procedures and practices as necessary. Compiles data for provider monitors that include workload, wait times, missed opportunities, medical record completion, customer satisfaction, continuing education and training requirements, as well as other data identified. Scheduling Telehealth encounters utilizing multiple steps including verifying provider's availability; ensuring provider-side encounter is confirmed and booked, coordinate patient-side encounters in the appropriate CBOC clinic, verifying equipment and space availability for date/time. Plays a major role in assisting the HT nurses in the performance of activities related to the program, including the discontinuation of authorized equipment, quality improvement processes, and suggestion of performance improvement strategies to program staff. Performs other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday (8:00am - 4:30pm) Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Program Support Assistant/PD21R68O Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job. Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959 Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required. 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, 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, 03/25/2026. 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-06 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. 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 as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: performing a wide range of administrative and clerical duties such as scheduling, maintaining records, preparing correspondence, and supporting office operations; applying established procedures to track data, compile reports, and ensure program activities are completed accurately and on time; providing customer service to internal and external stakeholders by responding to inquiries, gathering information, and assisting with coordination of services. 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/. Education There is no educational substitution at this grade level. 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. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. Additional Information 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. Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. 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 qualified you must submit appropriate documentation (a copy of the agency notice, your most recent performance rating, and your most recent SF-50 noting current position, grade level, and duty location) and be found well-qualified for this vacancy. To be well-qualified: applicants must possess experience that exceeds the minimum qualifications of the position including all selective factors, and who are proficient in most of the required competencies of the job. Information about ICTAP and CTAP eligibility is on OPM's Career Transition Resources website at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/workforce-restructuring/employee-guide-to-career-transition/.
