Advanced Medical Support Assistant

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Mishawaka (IN); On-site; USD 42,000 - 56,000; Full time

Job summary

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is seeking an Advanced Medical Support Assistant to support Patient Aligned Care Teams (PACT) and other care settings. This role emphasizes coordinating appointments, handling patient communications, and ensuring accurate demographics and insurance data.

Responsibilities include scheduling, greeting patients, verifying information, and assisting with transfers and workload management in a busy clinical environment.

Qualifications

• High school diploma, GED, or equivalent credential.
• Ability to communicate effectively with patients and staff.
• Experience in clerical, office, customer service, or related administrative work.

Responsibilities

• Schedule appointments, cancellations, and reschedules; manage patient encounters and workload credit.
• Answer phones, greet patients, and relay messages to staff.
• Verify demographics and insurance information; process transfers as needed.
• Coordinate administrative functions for transfers to other VA facilities or providers.

Skills

Collaboration across disciplines

Prioritization & organization

Effective communication

Care access knowledge

Interdisciplinary coordination

Medical terminology

Education

High school diploma or GED

Job description

The incumbent serves as an Advanced Medical Support Assistant assigned to a Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) model, Specialty Care setting, Care in the Community, Call Center, or any other areas where Advanced Medical Support Assistant vacancies come up at the facility. 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: 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
• Education: High school diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State of territorial-level Board of Department of Education
• 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

Advanced Medical Support Assistant, GS-6 (Must be demonstrated on resume at time of application)

Specialized Experience - One full year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level. This experience may include but is not limited to; independently performs a full range of duties related to the delivery of healthcare services in an inpatient or outpatient setting. Advises clinical staff on current administrative processes, scheduling, cancelling, re-scheduling patients appointments and/or monitoring both inpatient and outpatient appointments for areas of responsibility, ensuring encounter forms are completed in order to obtain appropriate workload credit, verifying and updating demographics and insurance information, processing all emergency and non-emergency transfers to other VA facilities or private hospitals, performing basic eligibility, co-pays and preauthorization requirements for specific coverage, etc. The AMSA is responsible for answering phones, greeting patients, relaying messages to appropriate staff inside or outside of the unit, scheduling appointments, including interpreting and verifying provider orders in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines. Assignments at this level include, but are not limited to: 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 (i.e., TRICARE, sharing agreements, collaterals, research patient, VA employee, etc.).

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs on their resume that are listed 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.

The Specialized Experience and KSAs listed above MUST be demonstrated on your resume.

Creditable Experience

(1) Knowledge of MSA Practices

To be creditable, the experience must have demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) associated with current MSA responsibilities or an equivalent administrative patient support role in a non-VA medical inpatient or outpatient setting. Experience satisfying this requirement may be paid/non-paid employment as an MSA or an equivalent position in a non-VA hospital or clinic setting.

(2) Quality of Experience.

Qualifying experience must be at a level comparable to MSA experience or equivalent administrative clinical support role in a non-VA medical inpatient or outpatient setting at the next lower grade level. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity (difficulty), and a range of varieties as described in this standard, at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time.

(3) Part-Time Experience.

Part-time experience as an MSA or equivalent administrative patient support in a [non-VA medical inpatient or outpatient setting] is creditable according to its relationship to the full-time workweek. For example, an MSA employed 20 hours a week, or on a 1/2-time basis, would receive one full-time workweek of credit for each two weeks of service.

References

VA Handbook 5005/117 PART II APPENDIX G45

Physical Requirements

The majority of work is performed in an office setting, primarily while seated. The position requires some standing, ambulation, bending, and carrying of items such as training manuals. The Advanced MSA is required to sit for long periods of time at a computer terminal typing data while having face to face contact with Veterans and answering the telephone. In addition, there can be increased stress due to the intensity of a patient/customer complaint or concern.