Advanced Medical Support Assistant

Veterans Health Administration; Flagstaff (AZ); On-site; USD 42,000 - 56,000; Full time

Job summary

The Advanced Medical Support Assistant (AMSA) role at Veterans Health Administration provides critical administrative support within the Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) and related clinics, including Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs).

Applicants may be referred before all education/certifications are complete; citizenship and English proficiency are required, with no licensure required initially. This is a full-time federal position with growth opportunities.

Qualifications

• Ability to collaborate with clinicians across disciplines to achieve team goals.
• Ability to set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines.
• Effective written, verbal, and electronic communication with internal and external customers.
• Advanced knowledge of health care processes related to access to care.
• Strong medical terminology understanding for clinical communications.

Responsibilities

• Provide specialized administrative support across interdisciplinary clinics and care delivery models.
• Coordinate clinic scheduling and patient communications to ensure timely access to care.
• Maintain accurate patient demographics and records; assist with referrals and follow-ups.

Skills

Team collaboration

Prioritization

Communication

Healthcare processes

Medical terminology

Education

High school diploma / GED

Job description

The Advanced Medical Support Assistant (AMSA) serves as a Clinical Clerk and is a foundational role within the VHA Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) initiative to include all interdisciplinary clinics and call centers that support the initiative as well as the Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs).

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:

• Citizenship: Be a citizen of the United States (U.S.).
• Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens according to 38 U.S.C. § 7407(a).

Experience.

• No experience required.

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.

English Language Proficiency.

• Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).
• 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:

• GS-6: One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-5). The experience includes the following but not limited to: Interacting with both internal and external customers; Establishing and maintaining medical outpatient and inpatient charts as well as administrative records; Verifying and updating demographics and insurance information; Obtaining medical information from patients; Coordinating information and actions related to patient care and services; and Scheduling appointments in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs).

Candidates must demonstrate the KSAs below:

• 1. 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.
• 2. Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations.
• 3. 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.
• 4. 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.
• 5. 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.
• 6. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians.

Assignment.

The Advanced MSA provides 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. Recommends 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 appropria