Summary The VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System is recruiting for Patient Services Assistant. The Patient Services Assistant will function in Patient Care Administrative Service (PCAS) , Ambulatory Care & Processing (AC&P) Section under Eligibility & Enrollment. Responsibilities The incumbent provides Clerical support and performs a segment of evaluative work of an administrative function to determine patient eligibility and benefits for medical care and treatment for all inpatient and outpatient services. The incumbent is responsible for the administrative functions associated with patient funds for Decedent Affairs. Additionally, the incumbent is responsible for the establishment and determination of patient's burial eligibility; as well as the coordination of scheduled burials for eligible Veterans. Other duties may include but are not limited to: Receives and processes applicants for admission and outpatient treatment. Responds to technical questions regarding patients' rights, responsibilities, and medical eligibility for care. Interprets and applies all Federal, State and local laws guidelines, regulations, and medical center policies relative to patient funds, decedent affairs, and beneficiary travel activities. Coordinates the release of patient remains to funeral directors and ensures appropriative documentation accompanies the remains Reconciles deposits and cash disbursements with agent cashier. Informs ineligible veterans of their right to appeal the decision. Completes applications for inpatient and outpatient care. Maintains control records for all deposits and disbursements. Provides beneficiary information to the deceased patient's next of kin. Advise patients, their families, and agency employees, on entitlement to benefits. Interpret admission and outpatient policies to patients, their families, agency employees, and veteran's organizations. Coordinates primary care team assignments for eligible veterans, monitoring the patient data base information to determine applicable co-payments for medical care and medications. Provides information and guidance to agency employees as requested. Maintains workload statistics for new applications and for applications that are pending verification. Maintains statistics on applications not meeting eligibility criteria for care. Assures that all veterans receive notification by mail if treatment is denied and are informed of their right to appeal the decision. Completes all applications for inpatient and outpatient care to include Electronic 10-10EZ's, and financial queries (means tests) in Vista. Responds to technical questions regarding patient rights, responsibilities, and medical eligibility for care. Provides training and support to other administrative/medical staff on all aspects of regulations, rules and medical center policies outlining entitlements to benefits. Performs other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Full time, Monday-Friday 7:00AM-3:30PM Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Patient Services Assistant (OA)/PD01901A 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 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 identification 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, 09/14/2026. 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-6 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5. 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: specialized experience includes administrative and clerical work of an office, utilizing computer, spreadsheets, database, and software to manage information; manages supplies and equipment by interfacing with supply, maintaining time and attendance records, performing data collection and preparing reports; and receiving calls and visitors and directing them appropriately. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Accountability Attention to Detail Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reading Comprehension Reasoning Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork 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: The work is sedentary. Typically, the employee sits comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking; standing; bending; carrying of light items such as papers, books, small parts; or driving an automobile, etc. No special physical demands are required to perform the work. 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 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. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. 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. 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.
