Advanced Medical Support Assistant

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 54,000 - 72,000; Full time

Job summary

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' San Diego VA Healthcare System seeks an Advanced Medical Support Assistant (AMSA) for the Radiology Service.

The AMSA collaborates with the patient care team to schedule outpatient imaging and coordinate inpatient procedures, ensuring smooth patient flow and accurate data in the electronic health record. The incumbent may rotate between work locations to provide cross-coverage, demonstrates strong customer service, and communicates professionally with

Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent is required.
• One year of experience equivalent to GS-5 is required.
• Ability to enter and retrieve patient data in EHR systems and scheduling software.
• Ability to schedule radiology appointments in a clinical setting.
• Strong communication and teamwork across care teams.
• Ability to work independently across a broad set of duties.

Responsibilities

• Schedule outpatient imaging appointments and coordinate inpatient imaging.
• Collaborate with patient care team to support access to care.
• Move between work locations to ensure cross-coverage.
• Enter and verify information in electronic health records and scheduling systems.
• Assist with patient communication and follow-up as needed.

Skills

Medical terminology

Customer service

EHR data entry

Scheduling radiology procedures

Independent work

Communication

Education

High school diploma or GED

Tools

Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems

Job description

The incumbent serves as the Advanced Medical Support Assistant (AMSA) for the Radiology Service at the San Diego VA Healthcare System. The Advanced MSA works collaboratively with the patient care team to schedule outpatient imaging appointments, and to coordinate inpatient imaging procedures. The Advanced MSA is required to move from one work location to another as part of the position and will assume the assigned duties and responsibilities to ensure cross-coverage and patient care.

Resume Requirement

Your resume must be detailed include the following information: Job title, description of duties, beginning and ending date (month/year) of employment; and average hours worked per week.

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.

Education:

High School Diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education.

GS-6 AMSA Specialized Experience:

In addition to the basic requirements, to qualify for the GS-6 grade level requirement; do you possess one (1) year experience equivalent to the GS-5.

• (a) Advanced knowledge of medical terminology specific to understand medical diagnosis and procedures sufficient to communicate clinical staff instructions to patients.
• (b) Skill in customer service with the ability to identify customer concerns, and refer to the appropriate staff, as necessary, to ensure a satisfactory resolution.
• (c) Ability to operate computerized programs and systems in order to enter, modify, and retrieve sensitive medical and patient identifying information (PII) into or from electronic health records, scheduling systems, and/or reports.
• (d) Ability to schedule medical appointments in a clinical setting.
• (e) Ability to work independently in the accomplishment of a wide variety of duties performing patient support work.
• (f) Ability to communicate effectively and professionally in person, electronically, and/or by telephone, with internal and external customers.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) GS-6 Advanced MSA Experience

In addition to the experience above, Candidates must demonstrate the "ALL" KSAs below:

• (a) 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.
• (b) 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.
• (c) Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians.
• (d) 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.
• (e) Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations.
• (f) 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.

Assignment:

For all assignments above the FPL, the higher-level duties must be of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity, and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. At the advanced level, the Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) (AMSA) performs difficult and responsible 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. Recommend 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 appropriate; participates in team huddles and team meetings to manage, plan, problem solve, and follow-up with patient care by sharing information and collaborating with the interdisciplinary team; setting priorities and deadlines, adjusting the flow and sequencing of the work to meet team and patient needs; identifies incomplete encounters and communicates findings to providers; as needed; assists the team to reinforce the plan of care and self-help solutions; enters appropriate information into the electronic record; monitors pre-appointment information and/or requirements to assure readiness for patient visit/procedure; manages patient systems to verify and validate accuracy and resolve issues; evaluates patient information and clinic schedule lists to determine whether the patient requires an immediate appointment; informs team members about shared patients (i.e., those who receive their care at multiple VA centers or those who receive care in the community).

Preferred Experience:

• 1. Experience with Window based computers; ability to type 40 wpm.
• 2. Previous experience scheduling radiologic procedures using an electronic appointment package is preferred.
• 3. Ability to learn quickly and retain large amounts of complex information relative to scheduling radiologic procedures and associated processes. Experience with rotating positions to provide cross-coverage.
• 4. Experience working in a very structured, fast paced, high volume, and ever changing work environment. Must be able to adapt to a very busy work environment and handle stress and changing situations in a professional and collaborative manner.
• 5. Experience working in a Customer service oriented work environment with a variety of individuals and presents a professional appearance.
• 6. Experience working as part of a team to complete tasks as well as being responsible for completing individual work assignments.
• 7. Experience working in an environment requiring the ability to multi-task; for example, ability to schedule imaging procedures via phone and face-to-face, and coordinate a myriad of paperwork concurrently.

Reference:

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

Physical Requirements:

Moderate lifting, 15-44 pounds; Light carrying, under 15 pounds; Reaching above shoulder; Use of fingers; walking up to 1 hour; Hearing (aid permitted); may be working alone and/or working closely with others.