Health System Specialist

Summary

Primary purpose of the Ambulatory Care Operations Director - Group Practice Manager (ACOD-GPM) is to provide oversight and administrative management of all ambulatory care services as it relates to access to care, clinical utilization, and productivity. The ACOD-GPM is responsible for primary care, mental health, specialty care, ambulatory surgery and all other ambulatory clinic oversight and integration into an efficient Clinic Practice Management model.

Duties

Responsible for supporting high quality, accessible, cost effective health care services, and for ensuring high quality patient experience for the Veteran. Measures and assesses clinical business activities; development, standardization, implementation, and sustainment of key operational/business processes. Will identify and implement improvements to optimize clinic management processes, access strategies, and "make-buy" decisions through an in depth analysis. Continuously evaluates the current outpatient services model in order to propose national access changes that will result in extensive changes in agency policy. National Program Responsibilities Provides access related consultative services. Provide input on nationally issued regulations and policies for VA-wide implementation. Review and evaluate local processes and procedures to determine areas of effectiveness, efficiency, and improvement for proposal. Review and evaluate system-wide training plans to optimize local use. Veteran Experience Responsibilities Work with Veteran Experience Advocates to evaluate patient and family concerns regarding the access to services needed. Align local processes with planning and policies at the network and national access levels. Programmatic Oversight Function independently. Lead program planning and execution for VHA-approved program of clinic practice management. Use Advanced Principles and Strategies for Access Improvement to review and provide guidance to Administrative (ALs) and Clinical Leads (CLs). Work with local personnel to integrate data analytics and measures with continuous process improvement. Incorporate Lean management, system redesign, and process improvement based upon knowledge of VHA's and local MyVA organizational philosophy, policies and management principles. Work independently with medical leadership and personnel at the AVAHS, CBOCs, and other facilities to implement national and VISN standards. Work in collaboration with facility leadership in the preparation for JC accreditation. Work with Logistics and Resource Management offices to oversee contracting services. Ensures record management guidelines are adhered to in the clinic setting. Recommends and coordinates with the facility manager on facility improvements. Exercise consultative authority involving work review. Direction and Long Term (Strategic) Planning Develop both long- and short-term policies and plans for the AVAHS. Lead ambulatory care managerial planning. Understand the requirements of the Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act (VACAA) and develop and implement strategic planning initiatives to achieve all requirements. Ensure the timely review, analysis, and adjustment of marketing strategies, plans, and programs with the marketing office. Budget Guidance and Approval Develop and maintain annual budget plan and staffing plans for outpatient care. Work closely with medical leadership and personnel at the AVAHS, CBOCs, and other facilities to formulate budget recommendations for all outpatient clinical services. Office Program Planning Work Provide administrative management for ambulatory care clinical support services. Act as the expert on policies and requirements for ambulatory care clinical support and administrative services. Ensure effective use of office staff and recommend needed changes to enhance central support services. Provide direct oversight of business managers for ambulatory care both at the main campus and at CBOCs. Quality/Productivity Goals Provide leadership and direction to promote the development and productivity of all employees supporting Ambulatory Care operations (Primary Care, Mental Health, Specialty Care, Ambulatory Surgery and all other ambulatory clinics). Evaluate performance as it relates to productivity and efficiency and recommend appropriate action. Develop and maintain a system to ensure complaints and inquiries are appropriately received and resolved. Due Process Represent management at labor management meetings as directed. Negotiate, decide upon, and coordinate work-related changes affecting the organization. Establish and maintain good relations with various groups and organizations. Liaison and Communications Act as a liaison or point person for communications. Promote effective vertical and horizontal communication and optimal information flow. Create standardized weekly/monthly templates for Access Reporting. Act as a representative of ambulatory care management and the EA to the Chief of Staff. Performs other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 7:30am-4:30pm Telework: AD-HOC Virtual: This is not a virtual position Position Description/PD#: Health System Specialist/PD502520 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized Requirements

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 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, 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, 09/21/2026. 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-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. 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. 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. Applicants must meet one of the following requirements: Specialized Experience: 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. OR Education: Major study -- hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration. In addition to meeting the IOR, you may qualify based on your experience as described below: Specialized Experience: Must possess 1-year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-11 grade level. Specialized experience will include: knowledge of, and skill in providing oversight and administrative management of ambulatory care operations across the medical center and Community Based Outpatient Clinics to improve access, utilization, productivity, and the Veteran experience; Developing, standardizing, implementing, and sustaining clinic practice management processes, including scheduling practices, to support efficient and effective ambulatory care operations; Monitoring access, clinical utilization, productivity, and patient experience performance across primary care, mental health, specialty care, ambulatory surgery, and other outpatient clinics; Analyzing complex clinical and administrative data to identify trends, causal relationships, performance gaps, and opportunities for operational improvement; performing demand-and-capacity, clinic profile, templating, and scheduling analyses to ensure clinical supply accurately reflects Veteran demand. Preferred or Specialized Experience: Expertise in clinic practice management, access improvement, and performance optimization gained through 3+ years in a GPM role. 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

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on 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. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/. How You Will Be Evaluated

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following Competencies for this position: Attention to Detail Customer Service Decision Making Flexibility Integrity/Honesty Interpersonal Skills Learning Reasoning Self-Management Stress Tolerance Teamwork Your experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. 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. IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Overstating your qualifications and/or experience in your application materials or application questionnaire may result in your removal from consideration. Cheating on the online assessment may also result in your removal from consideration. 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. During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions. Special Employment Consideration: VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply, including those eligible for hiring under 5 CFR 213.3102(u), Schedule A, Appointment of persons with disabilities [i.e., intellectual disabilities, severe physical disabilities, or psychiatric disabilities], and/or Disabled veterans with a compensable service-connected disability of 30% or more. Contact the Agency Contact for information on how to apply under this appointment authority via the Selective Placement Coordinator. Resume Reminder: Your resume must include the following information for each job listed: Job title Duties (be as detailed as possible) Month & year start/end dates (e.g. June 2007 to April 2008) Full-time or part-time status (include hours worked per week) Series and Grade, if applicable, for all Federal positions you have held Be aware that your answers will be verified against information provided on your resume. Be sure that your resume clearly supports your responses to all of the questions by addressing your work experience in detail. The experience stated in your resume must support your assessment responses. Other 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. 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. 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/.