Advanced Medical Support Assistant

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Big Spring (TX); On-site; USD 41,000 - 57,000; Full time

Job summary

The West Texas VA Health Care System seeks an Advanced Medical Support Assistant (AMSA) in the Community Care Service to support access to care across clinics and community resources. The AMSA collaborates with an interdisciplinary care team, prioritizes tasks, and manages clinic flow with minimal supervision to ensure timely patient care.

Proficiency in English is required. The role uses electronic records and patient portals to coordinate communications, referrals, and follow-up, aligning with

Qualifications

• High school diploma, GED, or proficiency certificate.
• Proficient in spoken and written English.
• One year of administrative/office customer service preferred.
• Experience with medical office workflows and scheduling is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Provide advanced administrative support in a coordinated care model.
• Coordinate clinic schedules and access to care across clinics.
• Enter patient information into the electronic record and verify readiness for visits.
• Assist with communications between inpatient and outpatient teams and community resources.

Skills

Interdisciplinary collaboration

Scheduling across care delivery

Medical terminology

Communication with care teams

Priority setting & time management

Electronic health records

Education

High school diploma or GED

Tools

MyHealthyVet Portal

Job description

The incumbent serves as an Advanced Medical Support Assistant within the Community Care Service (CCS) at the West Texas VA Health Care System (WTCAHCS). The AMSA works collaboratively with others in an interdisciplinary care delivery setting. The AMSA independently performs position responsibilities with little supervision, and demonstrates the ability to set priorities and deadlines, adjusting the flow and sequence of work to meet team and/or patient needs.

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Basic Requirements

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Experience. None.
• Education. High school diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education.
• Licensure/Certification/Registration. None.
• Foreign Education. To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must be deemed at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. program by a private organization specializing in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials.
• English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).
• English Language Proficiency: MSAs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, paragraph 3.j.

May qualify based on being covered by the 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

In addition to the basic requirements for employment, candidates must meet the following grade-determining criteria.

Experience: One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-05).

Assignment. For all assignments above the FPL, the higher-level duties must be of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity, and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time.

At the advanced level, the Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) (AMSA) performs difficult and responsible specialized and expert administrative patient support while working collaboratively in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model. Work involves specialized administrative judgment and the flexible use of a wide range of clinical flow processes relating to access to care across multiple clinics, specialties, and/or care in the community resources. Recommend changes to existing clinic procedures based on current administrative guidelines. Expertise in utilizing numerous advanced patient systems in support of multiple clinics involved in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model. Coordinates with the patient care team to review clinic appointment availability (utilization) to ensure that clinic schedules are closely monitored to effectively support the needs of the clinics, and makes adjustments as necessary. MSAs at this level develop and/or maintain effective and efficient communication with the patient, interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model teams, VA medical centers, and other agencies (e.g., assist with communications during the inpatient to outpatient discharge; communicate with non-VA medical facilities; prepare correspondence to notify patients of normal lab results; manage a system for follow-up care such as consults, tests, etc.). Other assignments at this level include, but are not limited to: processes incoming patient secure messaging through MyHealthyVet and coordinates with care team as appropriate; participates in team huddles and team meetings to manage, plan, problem solve, and follow-up with patient care by sharing information and collaborating with the interdisciplinary team; setting priorities and deadlines, adjusting the flow and sequencing of the work to meet team and patient needs; identifies incomplete encounters and communicates findings to providers; as needed; assists the team to reinforce the plan of care and self-help solutions; enters appropriate information into the electronic record; monitors pre-appointment information and/or requirements to assure readiness for patient visit/procedure; manages patient systems to verify and validate accuracy and resolve issues; evaluates patient information and clinic schedule lists to determine whether the patient requires an immediate appointment; informs team members about shared patients (i.e., those who receive their care at multiple VA centers or those who receive care in the community).

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs).

• Advanced knowledge of the technical health care process (including, but not limited to, scheduling across interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery and/or care in the community models and patient health care portals) as it relates to access to care.
• Advanced knowledge of policies and procedures associated with interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery and/or care in the community operational activities that affect patient flow, and patient support care administrative functions to include, but not limited to appointment cycles, outside patient referrals, follow-up care, overbooking, provider availability, etc.
• Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians.
• Ability to collaborate and communicate with a wide range of medical clinicians across multiple disciplines (e.g., medical doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, clinical pharmacists, and nursing staff) to accomplish team goal setting to ensure medical care to patients is met.
• Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations.
• Ability to communicate tactfully and effectively, electronically, by phone, in person, and in writing, with internal and external customers. This may include preparing reports in various formats and presenting data to various organizational levels, as well as resolving patient concerns.

Preferred Experience

• One (1) year of administrative/office customer service skills in de-escalation, problem solving, decision making, and good tactful communication skills, orally and in writing.
• Experience with document scanning and medical records indexing.
• Experience managing patient communications (e.g., telephone, e-mail, secure messaging) to obtain the desired effect and coordinating with a variety of interdisciplinary care team staff.
• Experience scheduling/rescheduling patient appointments in medical appointment software, including experience reading and verifying provider's orders, consults, and imaging requests.
• Advanced knowledge of health care processes as it relates to access to care.
• One (1) or more years of Community Care Service experience preferred.

Reference

For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-06. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-06.

Physical Requirements

The work is sedentary. Some work may require movement between offices, hospitals, warehouses, and similar areas for meetings and to conduct work. Work may also require walking/standing, in conjunctions with travel to and attendance at meetings and/or conferences away from the work site. Incumbent may carry and lift light items weighing less than 15 pounds.