Advanced Medical Support Assistant

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Iron Mountain (MI); On-site; USD 47,000 - 61,000; Full time

Job summary

The Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center in Iron Mountain, Michigan, seeks an Advanced Medical Support Assistant to support patient access and scheduling within the VA Care Community Section.

This role emphasizes coordinating appointments, collecting demographics and insurance data, and delivering customer-focused service in a demanding clinical setting. Successful candidates will demonstrate KSAs in collaboration, prioritization, and effective communication, and will possess a high school diploma

Qualifications

• Ability to collaborate with a wide range of medical clinicians to meet team goals.
• Ability to set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with processes.
• Ability to communicate effectively, in writing, verbally, and electronically with internal and external customers.
• Advanced knowledge of the technical health care process related to access to care.
• Advanced knowledge of policies for interdisciplinary care and patient flow.
• Advanced knowledge of medical terminology.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate and schedule patient appointments using advanced clinic access principles.
• Collect and update demographics and insurance information for patients.
• Provide customer service and support within Nursing and Patient Care Service.

Skills

Collaboration with clinicians

Prioritization & organization

Effective communication

Care delivery knowledge

Policy knowledge

Medical terminology

Education

High School Diploma / GED equivalency

Job description

The incumbent serves as an Advanced Medical Support Assistant in the VA Care Community Section (VACC) at the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center in Iron Mountain, Michigan, under Nursing and Patient Care Service. The incumbent's work impacts the administrative aspect of patient care, including: access, scheduling/ coordinating patient appointments using advanced clinic access principles, collecting and updating demographics and insurance information and customer service. 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.
• Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.
• English Language Proficiency: MSA's must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j.

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

Medical Support Assistant (Advanced), GS-06

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

AND

• Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:
  • KSA-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.
  • KSA-2. Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations.
  • KSA-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.
  • KSA-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.
  • KSA-5. Advanced knowledge of policies and procedures associated with interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery and/or care in the community operational activities that affect the 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.
  • KSA-6. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians.

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

Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary. Physical demands do not exceed those of a typical office setting. There may be some walking, standing twisting, turning, sitting, pushing, bending, repetitive keyboarding, or carrying of light items. Some positions may require sitting for long periods of time at a computer terminal typing data while talking on a telephone headset.