Health System Specialist

Full Job Description

The Health System Specialist -Credentialing and Privileging Specialist is assigned to the Medical Staff Office, which is under the Chief of Staff at a VA Medical Center (VAMC) and is responsible for providing administrative and technical direction and support to the credentialing and privileging (C&P) operations.

This position is currently under consistency review and may result in a downgrade/change to lower grade once determination is made.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/17/2026.

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-7 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-5. For a GS-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7.

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.

Individual Occupational Requirements Undergraduate and Graduate Education: Major study -- hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration.

OR 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.

Special Provision for Inservice Placement: Successful completion of an agency-sponsored on-the-job training program may be substituted for qualifying experience, provided it included a formal individualized training plan.

Such a training program must have been conducted in an operating health care system and included: Assignments providing a knowledge of basic health system administration philosophies, practices, and procedures, and basic government administrative policies and requirements; Practical assignments providing an opportunity to apply health system administration skills and principles (as the individual progresses, work assignments must be characteristic of the grade level to which he or she is assigned); and Oversight by an experienced health system administrator with periodic evaluation of the individual's progress and appropriate adjustment of the training program.

You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-7 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-5 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Examples of creditable specialized experience includes but is not limited to: perform highly structured, entry-level work designed to develop broader and more in-depth knowledge and skill to perform higher-level assignments; communicate factual and procedural information clearly, orally and in writing; gather and analyze basic facts and draw conclusions.

OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience.

To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have 1 full year of graduate level education or superior academic achievement.

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 a 1 full year of graduate level education.

GS-9 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-7 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization.

Examples of creditable specialized experience includes but is not limited to: knowledge of pertinent laws, regulations, policies and precedents, accreditation standards and guidelines; knowledge of VetPro policies, including but not limited to, VetPro Data Integrity, Facility level access control, mandatory annual VetPro security and confidentiality training, and mandatory annual privacy act training; apply analytical and evaluative methods and techniques to issues or studies concerning the efficiency and effectiveness of the C&P operations and toward the planning and accomplishment of a variety of routine and complex work assignments; communicate orally technical information to a diverse group of individuals with varying levels of understanding; knowledge of medical terminology, medical specialties and core privileges and procedures to assure competence/appropriateness of credentials and privileging requested.OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience.

To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B.

or J.D., if related. 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 a master's or equivalent graduate level education .

You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Communications Compliance Quality Assurance Technical Competence 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: Work is primarily sedentary but some slight physical effort might be required.

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/.

Major Duties:

Major duties include, but are not limited to: Performing as the subject matter expert (SME) to Licensed Independent Providers (LIPs) and Service Chiefs regarding routine and complex matters related to C&P.

Assisting the C&P Manager/Analyst in developing short- and long-term goals necessary to accomplish the mission of the C&P program.

Assisting the C&P Manager/Analyst in drafting local credentialing processes and Medical Staff Bylaws in compliance with all applicable regulations.

Receiving and reviewing VetPro reports detecting problem areas requiring further investigation.

Informing the C&P Manager/Analyst of trends identified, audit results and identified problems that may affect a provider's privilege status.

Providing guidance and instruction to hospital staff in completing the required documentation of establishing privileges for LIPs.

Assuring application packages and other documents meet technical requirements per specialty of provider and assures application folder and database account (VetPro or other internal databases and spreadsheets) meet technical requirements.

Serving as technical advisor to the Executive Committee of the Medical Staff (ECMS) and if applicable the Credentials Committee.

Developing and providing routine and special reports as requested by the C&P Manager/Analyst. Establishing and maintains a variety of files and records pertaining to the C&P process.

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 to Friday, 7:30am - 4:00pm Telework: This position may be authorized for telework.

Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Health System Specialist/PD99620-S and PD99876-S Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized