Program Support Assistant

Full Job Description

The Program Support Assistant assigned to the Connected Care Program in the Albany Stratton VAMC is under the direct supervision of the Connected Care Facility Manager/Facility Telehealth Coordinator.

This is a pivotal position, where the incumbent is responsible for representing the medical center to Veterans, patients, family members of Veterans, congressmen, and other medical center providers both at the VA and in the community.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/25/2026.

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-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.

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: performing a wide range of administrative and clerical duties such as scheduling, maintaining records, preparing correspondence, and supporting office operations; applying established procedures to track data, compile reports, and ensure program activities are completed accurately and on time; providing customer service to internal and external stakeholders by responding to inquiries, gathering information, and assisting with coordination of services.

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:

Duties includes but is not limited to: Administrative Support Functions Maintains calendar of appointments for meetings, conference calls, and other various scheduled activities.

Prepare travel requests, schedule conferences, coordinate meetings, and take minutes of various meetings pertaining to the Connected Care Program or any future assignments or projects.

Submits requests for purchase of supplies that are required for the daily function of the Connected Care Program.

He or she orders necessary equipment for the care line, as assigned, and assists other service lines in ordering process for the telehealth technology.

Maintains program record system including both administrative and clinical data summary information in accordance with local facility record management guidelines.

Supports deployment and implementation of new telehealth equipment and/or services aimed at improving service.

Develops, promotes, and maintains effective communications with other services to enhance a mutual understanding and acceptance of responsibilities.

Serves as point of contact for patients, medical center staff, Veterans Integrated Service Network staff, community agencies, and any others who contact the program office.

Performs all clerical support duties required by the Connected Care team. Coordinates prioritization of work to ensure that work is completed in a timely manner.

Performs typing and filing, prepares materials for publication such as pamphlets, certificates, forms, graphs, technical manuals, or comparable items.

Provides data entry for all program and/or documents used or distributed by the Connected Care team including but not limited to VistA and MS Office software.

Telehealth Program Functions Responsible for input of required data into telehealth programs utilizing various VHA databases within and outside the facility.

Compile and prepare accurate reports of pending consults, patient needs, scheduling problems, as well as demand estimates.

Serves as a key contact for the Telehealth Program, connecting Veterans and providers to a Telehealth encounter in the most effective and timely method, which requires extensive troubleshooting of various system and devices.

Recommends and implements amendment of program procedures and practices as necessary.

Compiles data for provider monitors that include workload, wait times, missed opportunities, medical record completion, customer satisfaction, continuing education and training requirements, as well as other data identified.

Scheduling Telehealth encounters utilizing multiple steps including verifying provider's availability; ensuring provider-side encounter is confirmed and booked, coordinate patient-side encounters in the appropriate CBOC clinic, verifying equipment and space availability for date/time.

Plays a major role in assisting the HT nurses in the performance of activities related to the program, including the discontinuation of authorized equipment, quality improvement processes, and suggestion of performance improvement strategies to program staff.

Performs other related duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday (8:00am - 4:30pm) Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Program Support Assistant/PD21R68O Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized