Health System Specialist

This position reports to the Ambulatory Care Operations Director (ACOD) I Group Practice Manager (GPM). The primary purpose of the position is to provide assistance and support to the ACOD/GPM and to all ambulatory care services in the facility and related Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) as it relates to access to care as applicable.

• Maintain improvement-focused, patient-centered team to support providing timely access to care and increasing Veteran satisfaction regarding access to care. Consults, advises, and educates all levels of employees including the highest levels of management, on methods and means to make health care operations more effective and efficient. Manages and resolves conflicts, confrontations, and disagreements in a positive and constructive manner to minimize negative personal impact. Assist in development of clinic contingency plans for Access.
• Assists clinical business end users in re-engineering business processes for clinical efficiency and documentation. Understands and appropriately applies principles, procedures, requirements, regulations, and policies related to specialized expertise.
• Optimize and standardize clinic operations and key business processes through collaboration and management of staff, processes, training, technology and the physical infrastructure. develops and/or oversees the development of information related to patient care, such as patient registries to allow the Clinical Team to track management of patient illnesses; and develops performance management tracking tools.
• Extracts, analyze and provides data to assess treatment impacts such as: clinical endpoints, health status outcomes and utility estimates; estimated usage; characteristics of treating designated populations; evaluating patterns of substitution against other products such as resource impact assessments. Knowledge of computer hardware and software development and systems as they apply to the conception, specification, analysis, planning, development, installation, test, modification and use of data handling and computing systems in support of aerospace flight and ground systems. Pulls reports and presents findings from various databases (OPES, SPARQ, Glide Path, Clinic Index, Pyramida Analytics and PowerBi, etc.).
• Uses computers, software applications, databases, and automated systems to accomplish work. Knowledge of computer hardware and software development and systems as they apply to the conception, specification, analysis, planning, development, installation, test, modification and use of data handling and computing systems in support of aerospace flight and ground systems.
• Conducts special studies and trend analysis, identifies and evaluates data elements needed for these studies from various data repositories (e.g., Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VISTA), VHA Support Service Center (VSSC), PowerBi, , Pyramid Analytics, Managerial Cost Accounting Office (MCAO), Allocation Resource Center (ARC), Corporate Data Warehouse (CDW), etc.), ensures the accuracy of the information delivered, and submits findings. Validate data integrity/quality for elements populating access reports (DSS, PCMM, clinic profile set-up, panel sizes, provider schedules).
• Collect, analyze and interpret data from multiple sources to identify current and/or fore-casted deficiencies, determine root causes, and recommend corrective actions.

Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory, qualification, and performance requirements are met. Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 0800 - 1630
Telework: This position may be authorized for ad-hoc telework. Ad-hoc telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Description/PD#: Health System Specialist/PD99865S and PD99866S
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized
Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/11/2026.

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.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below:

GS-11:

• Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: typically in or related to the work of this Health System Specialist. Qualifying specialized experience is defined as 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: (1) Missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems; (2) Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; and (3) Government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel, and procurement. At this level, applicants would have obtained this experience working within a health care setting, working directly with health care system administration and finance services to solve problems in support of policy compliance and program/operational functions; experience with extracting, analyzing, and organizing data from multiple sources, and assisting with fund disbursement procedures and processes. OR,
• Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree OR three (3) full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree, Or LL.M in the related field of the position to be filled (i.e., hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration). The education portion must include courses that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. Education must have been obtained in an accredited college, or university. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. OR,
• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond graduate level (beyond a master's degree) and specialized experience as described above to meet total experience requirements. The education portion must include graduate courses that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do to the work of this position (i.e., hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration). NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. Experience must be clearly indicated in your resume.

GS-12

• 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 facility managers and analysis and/or coordination of administrative, clinical, or other service activities, and provided knowledge of the following: (1) Missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems; (2) Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups; and (3) Government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel, and procurement. At this level, applicants would have obtained this experience working within a health care setting, working directly with health care system administration and finance services to solve problems in support of policy compliance and program/operational functions; experience with disbursement agreement (DA) administration used for payment of salary and benefit; and completing record data analysis to determine potential or actual fraud, waste and abuse, and to recommend redistribution of resources. NOTE: Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must clearly indicate the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.

Preferred Experience: Optimize and standardize clinic operations and key business processes, collect analyze and interpret data from multiple sources; maintain improvement focused patient centered team to support providing timely access to care and increasing Veteran satisfaction.

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/.

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/.

• 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.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• 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.