Summary The Columbia VA Health Care System (VAHCS) opened in 1932 at its current location. The facility has 204 skilled nursing beds, which includes acute medical, surgical, psychiatric, and long-term care. The hospital provides primary, secondary, and some tertiary care. The facility is a complex teaching hospital, providing a full range of patient care services, with state-of-the-art technology, education, and research. Responsibilities The Program Analyst (Informatics) serves as a healthcare professional who influences and adapts IT systems to drive management of the health system toward effectiveness and efficiency. Performs workflow assessment and optimization in clinical, administrative, educational, and research domains, in addition to adapting software controls to existing workflow. The incumbent is a primary resource for VHA leadership when mission critical updates/problems are identified at the facility, regional, or national levels, and serves as a subject matter expert for new technology assessment and usability. The major duties and responsibilities of the position are: Consultation and Education: As a primary VHA subject matter expert for Health Informatics, the incumbent serves as a knowledge expert for the electronic health record and associated clinical software, and provides users and staff with consultative support and education. Successfully adopts and applies new technologies to support healthcare operations and systems. Initiates, develops, and executes complex projects that support veterans' healthcare needs. Assists clinical business end users in reengineering business processes for clinical efficiency and documentation. Identifies end-user educational requirements and training needs. Develops educational programs and instructional materials to educate users and support staff. Clinical: Exercises expertise in clinical operations, and develops and/or oversees the development of information related to patient care, such as patient registries. Develops performance management tracking tools. Extracts, analyzes, and provides data to assess treatment impacts such as clinical endpoints, health status outcomes and utility estimates, estimated usage, characteristics of treating designated populations, and evaluating patterns of substitution against other products such as resource impact assessments. Actively participates in the development of clinical decision-support systems. Policy/Governance: Maintains knowledge of changes in technology and the clinical environment to identify, propose, formulate, and support new or revised major administrative and clinical policies and directives for clinical software packages in accordance with VHA regulations. Provides expertise in the design of decision support tools that improve healthcare efficiency, effectiveness, and safety. Develops and presents recommendations for improving clinical data management methods, follow-up procedures, and timely compliance with regulatory guidelines. Technology and Data: Provides relevant clinical and/or administrative data to identify, quantify, and resolve organizational problems. Integrates software applications for clinical services by: evaluating the unique needs of the specific clinical services in conjunction with the capabilities of the software and coordinating any required modifications; reviewing the effectiveness of of the systems and procedures to assure optimum benefit to patient care activities; and troubleshooting when functionality is compromised by determining the cause of and/or the solution to the problem. Human Factors: Improves efficiency and effectiveness of processes by utilizing knowledge of human factors, usability of redesigned health information systems, and knowledge of human physical and psychological barriers to usability. Conducts tests to analyze usability, ensuring adaptability of the process(es) to the workflow and ensuring processes are used in the most efficient and effective manner. Management of Projects: Guides the evolution of clinical software and processes using creative and well developed interpersonal skills to achieve effective communication with end users, Office of Information and Technology (OI&T), and management. Develops and/or oversees databases related to patient management systems, and actively participates, or leads the development of clinical decision-support systems. Develops implementation plans for new software releases/applications and updates. Plans, organizes, estimates cost, coordinates, and communicates with staff, and conducts all phases of the project. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 7:30 am - 4:00 pm (subject to change based on agency needs) Remote: This is a remote position Telework: N/A Position Description/PD#: Program Analyst (Informatics)/PD99399S and PD99372S Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required 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 You may be required to serve a probationary period Subject to background/security investigation Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP) Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details. Qualifications To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/25/2024. 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 the GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09 level. For the GS-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11 level. 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: GS 11 grade level requirement: 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: assisting with the use of the electronic health record and associated clinical software along with providing consultation, advisement, and education; extracting, analyzing, and providing data to assess treatment impacts; providing knowledge and assistance in the design of decision support tools; providing relevant clinical and/or administrative input and data to identify, quantify, and resolve organizational problems; working closely with supervisory staff to provide input in the evolution of clinical software and processes; experienced knowledge of VHA operations, national databases (including VISTA architecture and file structure, CPRS, and Cerner); working independently and with minimal supervision; communicating effectively with immediate supervisor and senior leadership; presenting Informatics data in a group format either face-to-face or on Teams; effectively leading a team; reviewing work assignments and determining priority by due dates; and meeting assignment deadlines. 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 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.M., 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 the graduate level. GS 12 grade level requirement: 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: applying a wide range of advanced practices, theories, and emerging information in healthcare delivery, Health Informatics and applications; use of clinical software packages; experienced knowledge of VHA operations, national databases (including VISTA architecture and file structure, CPRS, and Cerner), analytical techniques, and clinical applications development techniques; providing Health Informatics consultation, educational, and training services; working independently; communicating effectively with immediate supervisor and senior leadership; presenting Informatics data in a group format either face-to-face or on Teams; effectively leading a team; reviewing work assignments and determining priority by due dates; and meeting assignment deadlines. Education: There is no educational substitution at this grade level. Note: IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE WILL NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Verbiage displayed on your resume or application must contain your own words. You may refer to the specialized experience located within the vacancy announcement, to assist with describing work experiences; however, resumes or applications received that copied verbatim from the announcement will be evaluated and may be reviewed as falsifying your experience or application. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Clinical Informatics Critical Thinking Information Management Leadership Teamwork 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 is usually sedentary, but it requires periods of walking, standing, bending or climbing, and employees may carry light items such as books, instruments, laptops, and other similar materials. 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 GS-11 grade level: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on education. GS-12 grade level: 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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html. Additional Information The Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan (ICTAP) and Career Transition Assistance Plan (CTAP) provide eligible displaced Federal/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/. This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies. Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process. If you are unable to apply online or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application.