Advanced Medical Support Assistant

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Milwaukee (WI); On-site; USD 42,000 - 54,000; Full time

Job summary

US Department of Veterans Affairs at Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center in Milwaukee, WI, seeks a Medical Support Assistant (GS-6) in the Health Administration Department. The incumbent will normally work in their assigned area but may be required to work in other locations as necessary and as qualified by past training.

Must meet U.S. citizenship requirements and possess a High School Diploma or GED. The role focuses on scheduling, patient communication, and coordinating administrative tasks

Qualifications

• Experience: No experience required.
• Education: High School Diploma, GED, or equivalent proficiency certificate as described by VA policy.

Responsibilities

• Advise clinical staff on administrative processes.
• Answer phones, greet patients, relay messages, and schedule/cancel/re-schedule appointments.
• Verify and update patient demographics and insurance information at check-in.
• Coordinate transfers to VA facilities or private hospitals and determine appointment type based on eligibility.
• Monitor inpatient and outpatient appointments and assist with daily clinic needs.

Skills

Collaboration with clinicians

Prioritization & time management

Effective communication (oral/written)

Health care process knowledge

Policy & procedures understanding

Medical terminology knowledge

Education

High School Diploma or GED

Job description

This position is located at the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the Health Administration Department. Incumbent will normally work in their assigned area but could be required to work in other locations as necessary and as qualified by past training.

United States Citizenship:

Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.

English:

Must be proficient in basic written and spoken English.

Education/Experience:

• Experience. No experience required.
• Education: Must possess a High School Diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education.

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).

IN ADDITION TO MEETING THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS LISTED ABOVE, YOU MUST MEET THE GRADE REQUIREMENTS AT THE GS-6 LEVEL TO QUALIFY FOR THIS POSITION.

GS-6 LEVEL GRADE REQUIREMENTS:

SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Must have one (1) year of experience that is directly related to the duties of a MSA and that equips you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of this position. To be creditable, this experience must be equivalent to the next lower grade level, GS-5, and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with current MSA responsibilities. Experience at this level includes, but is not limited to: Advising clinical staff on current administrative processes. Answering phones, greeting patients, relaying messages to appropriate staff inside or outside of the unit, scheduling, canceling, re-scheduling patient appointments and/or consults including interpreting and verifying provider orders in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines. 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 (i.e., TRICARE, sharing agreements, collaterals, research patient, VA employee, etc.).

AND

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES: You also must demonstrate the following KSAs:

• KSA-1. Ability to collaborate and communicate with a wide range of medical clinicians across multiple disciplines 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. 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 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/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-6.

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.