Advanced Medical Support Assistant

Veterans Health Administration; Fresno (CA); On-site; USD 42,000 - 62,000; Full time

Job summary

Veterans Health Administration in Fresno seeks an Advanced Medical Support Assistant to provide expert administrative patient support within an interdisciplinary care model. The role emphasizes scheduling, patient data maintenance, and coordination with clinicians.

Successful candidates typically have a high school diploma or equivalent, with related clerical experience. Collaboration across departments and strong communication are essential for patient access and care continuity.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma required or equivalent.
• Six months clerical/administrative experience optional.
• Ability to work in interdisciplinary teams and coordinate care.

Responsibilities

• Schedule and manage patient appointments and consultations.
• Enter demographics and insurance data at patient check-in.
• Coordinate transfers to other VA facilities or private facilities.
• Provide specialized administrative support within health care delivery.

Skills

Scheduling

Patient support

Medical terminology

Interdisciplinary collaboration

Documentation

Communication

Education

High School Diploma

Experience/Education Combination

Job description

Advanced Medical Support Assistant

This position serves as an Advanced Medical Support Assistant for the VA Central California Health Care System in Health Administration Service. The Advanced MSA provides specialized and expert administrative patient support while working collaboratively in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model.

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 and Education.

• (1) Experience. Six months experience of clerical, office, customer service, or other administrative work that indicates the ability to acquire the particular knowledge and skills needed to perform the duties of the position; OR, (2) Education. High School Diploma; OR, (3) Experience/Education Combination. Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable. 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 Medical Support Assistant (Advanced): One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level. This experience includes: scheduling, canceling, re-scheduling patient appointments and/or consults; entering no-show information; monitoring appointment requests from multiple electronic sources; participating in huddles with other MSAs and/or clinic staff to determine the daily needs of the clinic, monitoring both inpatient and outpatient appointments in areas of responsibility; verifying and updating demographics and insurance information when patients check-in for appointments. Coordinates administrative functions relating to emergency and non-emergency transfers to other VA facilities or private hospitals and determines appointment type based on the patient's eligibility status.

Key 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.

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

Physical Requirements

The work is mostly sedentary, although some slight physical effort will be required using computers/phones; there may be some light lifting/carrying of files/documents; and walking throughout the service/facility for meetings, etc.