Medical Records Technician (Release of Information)

Summary

This position is located in the Health Information Management (HIM) section at the St. Cloud Minnesota VHA Medical Center. The MRT (ROI) reviews and processes requests for patient protected health information (PHI). The MRT (ROI) also provides direct customer service to the Veteran (or third party), by providing copies of the Veteran's PHI, when a signed, written request is received, or upon the Veteran's valid authorization to a third party.

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Duties

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Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

The VA Midwest Health Care Network advocates for a Whole Health System of care in each of the Medical Centers. This is an approach to healthcare that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their lives to the fullest. As an employee operating in a Whole Health System of care, you will operate in a model with three core elements, seeking to create a personalized health plan for each Veteran. This is done in the context of healing relationships and healing environments and a connection back to the Veteran's community. This aligns with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Mission Statement to Honor America's Veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being.

Major duties include but are not limited to:

• Provides direct customer service to the Veteran, their Personal Representative or third party by providing copies of the Veteran's health information when a signed, written request is received or upon the Veteran's valid authorization to a third party.
• Applies public laws, rules, regulations and exclusions governing confidentiality of the health record.
• Processes all incoming requests to the facility for ROI along with information required by the VA Regional Office through the Automated Medical Information Exchange (AMIE).
• Evaluates validity of each request. Determines which information is to be released in compliance with existing laws, such as the Privacy Act of 1974, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), and HIPAA.
• Receives and directs callers and visitors.
• Searches records or files to compose responses, including electronic searches to retrieve and summarize hard-to-locate data. Locates materials that would verify information given.
• Composes responses to routine requests for release of patient information.
• Composes detailed explanations in response to correspondence received, arranging information into logical sequence and appropriate format, and choosing appropriate words and expressions to convey the desired tone.
• Resolves conflicting or inconsistent information found on initial requests.
• Processes Social Security requests for health information using ROI software.
• Completes and processes routine releases of information to other VA and Federal Agencies and when requested, to patients and their families, insurance representatives, physicians, hospitals, and city and state health agencies according to VA directives.

Work Schedule : Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm

Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized.

Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized.

Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).

Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)

Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.

Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.

Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66 .

Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA

Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)

Telework : Not Available.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement # : 000000

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized.

Requirements

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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.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• 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).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 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 trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements :

• United States Citizenship: Be a citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g, of this part.)
• Experience and Education
  • Experience. One year of creditable experience that indicates knowledge of medical terminology and general understanding of health records. Six months of the required one year of creditable experience must have provided the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) needed to perform MRT (ROI) work. OR ,
  • Education. An associate's degree from an accredited college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education with a major field of study in health information technology/health information management, or a related degree with a minimum of 12 semester hours in health information technology/health information management (e.g., courses in medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, legal aspects of health care, and introduction to health records). OR,
  • Experience/Education Combination. Equivalent combinations of creditable experience and education are qualifying towards meeting basic experience requirements. The following experience and educational/training substitutions are appropriate for combining education and creditable experience:
    
    
    • Six months of creditable experience that indicates knowledge of medical terminology, privacy and release of information, the health record, and one year above high school with a minimum of six semester hours of health information technology/health information management courses.
    • Six months of creditable experience that indicates knowledge of medical terminology, privacy and release of information, the health record, and successful completion of a course for medical technicians, hospital corpsmen, medical service specialists, or hospital training obtained in a training program given by the Armed Forces or the U.S. Maritime Service under close medical and professional supervision. The training program may be substituted on a month-for-month basis for up to six months of experience provided the training program included courses in anatomy and physiology, and health record techniques and procedures.

Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).

Grade Determinations :

Medical Records Technician (ROI), GS-4

Experience or Education. None beyond basic requirements.

Medical Records Technician (ROI), GS-5

Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade level;

OR,

Education. Successful completion of a bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, with a major field of study in health information management, or a related degree with a minimum of 24 semester hours in health information technology/health information management (e.g., courses in medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, legal aspects of health care, and introduction to health records).

AND

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

(a) Ability to utilize health information technology and various office software products utilized in MRT (ROI) positions (e.g., the electronic health record, release of information systems, etc.).

(b) Knowledge of health record documentation guidelines and processes for disclosing protected health information.

(c) Ability to manage priorities and coordinate work in order to complete duties within required timeframes, and the ability to follow-up on pending issues.

(d) Knowledge of policies, procedures, laws, and regulations governing privacy and release of information.

(e) Ability to communicate with individuals from various backgrounds to obtain the desired effect or gaining information by establishing rapport.

Medical Records Technician (ROI), GS-6

Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade level.

AND

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

(a) Knowledge of the laws and regulations related to the authorization and disclosure of health information (e.g., Privacy Act, Freedom of Information Act, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and 38 U.S.C. § 7332, Confidentiality of Certain Medical Records).

(b) Ability to apply health record documentation guidelines and processes to navigate efficiently through the paper and/or electronic health record to locate, assemble, and disclose protected health information.

(c) Ability to apply policies, procedures, laws, and regulations governing privacy and release of information to process requests for release of information.

(d) Ability to research and solve difficult questions related to release of health information in an accurate and timely manner.

Preferred Experience: Computer experience with excel and word documents, customer service experience and Release of Information experience.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-4. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-4 to . GS-6.

Physical Requirements: You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position. Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination.

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: 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:

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.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

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.

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.