Transportation Assistant

Transportation Assistant

This position will operate within the Veteran Transportation Service (VTS) within the Business Office of the Memphis VA Health Care System. The incumbent is directly supervised by and collaborates with the VTS Mobility Manager for transportation workload, forecasting, scheduling design, procedure development, quality improvement implementation, modification of processes, evaluation, and ongoing operation of the VTS.

Responsibilities include independently managing the Medical Center's Beneficiary Travel Program. This program provides transportation at government expense to beneficiaries and their attendants traveling to and from VA facilities and other places for the purpose of examination, treatment or care. This will include correctly determining eligibility for the program, and processing requests. This will also include correctly determining which of several fund control points to utilize, obligating funds, maintaining manual and electronic accounting records, performing regular reconciliations and adjusting account balances. Contact the approving official to authorize obligations and requests for additions, deductions, and / or movement of funds. Makes necessary changes to fund control points. Corresponds with Fiscal Service upon any clarification of posting on control points.

The incumbent must have knowledge of clinical services, related software and programs as they relate to clinical computing and office automation. Duties include but are not limited to : applying automation abilities, to include knowledge of email system, MS Office-Word, Excel, and Teams. Manages the Beneficiary Travel Program application to pay eligible beneficiaries, perform bill of collections, and pay contractor billing in IPPS and ECAMs. Process 1358s. Patient funds. Assist with increases and decreases to various fund control points using the VISTA and VPFS system. Interprets regulations and laws pertaining to travel eligibility for medical benefits. Transfer of patients, beneficiary travel, patient funds, and communicates to members of the clinical staff, Veterans, constituents and family members. Applies comprehensive knowledge of travel eligibility requirements, means test, beneficiary travel handbooks, and other entitlement programs. Explains regulatory guidelines to members of the clinical staff, Veterans, constituents and family members. Communicates in writing decisions regarding legal entitlement for emergency travel. Prepares correspondence to Veterans concerning eligibility and counsels Veterans who do not meet the criteria for transportation reimbursement. Maintains and controls electronic filing systems in accordance with VA regulations and certify payments to Fiscal for processing. Reviews requests for reimbursement of travel cost for the purpose of assuring compliance with regulations and procedures, completeness, accuracy, internal consistency, and agreement with authorization. Communicates effectively to resolve beneficiary travel inquiries regarding payments and / or denials. Arranges all modes of transportation via air ambulance, commercial air, taxi, ambulance, bus, and / or independent transport. Explains the regulatory guidelines to beneficiaries for submitting any unauthorized claims to the VA for consideration of payment. Communicates consistently and treats customers in a courteous, tactful, and respectful manner. Provides customers with consistent information regarding established policies and procedures as it relates to beneficiary travel. Handles conflicts and problems in dealing with the customer constructively and appropriately. Makes special arrangements per physician documentation according to traveler's medical condition and or preference. Uses CPRS to review medical documentation for provider approvals for special mode of travel and emergency travel. Applies knowledge of basic medical terminology when interpreting medical documentation from the provider to ensure proper scheduling of various modes of transportation. Other duties as assigned. Work Schedule : Monday - Friday 8 : 00 a.m. - 4 : 30 p.m. Telework : Ad-hoc Eligible. Virtual : This is not a virtual position.

Position Description / PD# : Transportation Assistant / PD50058A

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. 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. 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, 11 / 10 / 2025. 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.

You may qualify based on your experience and / or education 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 : knowledge and application of transportation regulations, methods and practices to perform a wide range of problems with transportation. Knowledge to extract information and mileage from a road atlas and city state maps. Ability to interpret contracts for transportation services. Knowledge of validation, control, and maintaining accounting records for many travel accounts and make frequent dollar amount adjustments on those accounts. Knowledge and office automation abilities to include email system, Micro Soft Office, spreadsheets and other equipment. Ability to prepare correspondences to Veterans concerning eligibility and counsel Veterans that do not meet transportation reimbursement. Knowledge of beneficiary travel reimbursements.

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position : Attention to Detail, Customer Service (Clerical / Technical), Financial Management, Oral Communication, Reading, Technology Application.

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 requires no special physical demands, but will require some physical effort such as standing, walking, bending or sitting.

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 or 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.