Medical Support Assistant

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Hartford (VT); On-site; USD 42,000 - 64,000; Full time

Job summary

US Department of Veterans Affairs at White River Junction VA Medical Center seeks a Medical Support Assistant for full-time work in the Nursing, Acute Care services. The role involves front desk duties, scheduling, and coordinating patient care in a busy clinical environment.

The MSA will work under supervision at an entry level GS-3 to GS-5, providing essential administrative support to ensure timely patient treatment and proper documentation according to VA policies.

Qualifications

• High school diploma or GED is required.
• Experience requirements are noted as none at entry level.
• Proficiency with English language and basic medical terminology is expected.

Responsibilities

• Handle front desk duties, greet patients, and answer phones.
• Schedule and reschedule patient appointments per clinic needs.
• Review patient records and insurance information for accuracy.
• Coordinate with clinic staff to facilitate patient care and services.

Skills

Medical terminology

Customer service

Appointment scheduling

Communication skills

Education

High school diploma or GED

Tools

Office automation software

Job description

This Medical Support Assistant position is in the Nursing, Acute Care services at the White River Junction VA Medical Center, located at the White River Junction location. This position is full time at 40 hours 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.
• English Language Proficiency: Medical Support Assistants must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).
• 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.
• Certification: None.

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). Employees in VHA in this occupation, under a permanent, appropriate, and legal placement on the effective date of the qualification standard, are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the grade and/or assignment held, including positive education and registration/certification where applicable. For employees who do not meet all the basic or assignment-specific requirements in this standard but met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed, the following provisions apply:

1. Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed on a temporary or permanent basis until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.
2. Employees retained in this occupation under this provision who subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of re-entry to the occupation. NOTE: This provision is not intended to regularize appointments/ placements.

Grade Determinations

Medical Support Assistant, GS-3:

Experience or Education: None beyond the basic requirements.

Assignment: Employees at this grade level serve in a MSA entry-level developmental position. This is an entry level MSA position. It is expected that MSAs at this level will receive guidance from more experienced staff members and require frequent and direct supervision. At this level, MSAs apply general rules and policies relating to clinic functions, staff, and automated data processing methods in support of treatment to patients. They utilize a variety of patient data systems in scheduling patients for treatment and annotate patient records. They perform front desk duties, receive telephone call, and visitors to the MSA unit. They make and cancel appointments, review patient records for necessary information, and review patient demographics and insurance verification. They consult with clinic staff when processing physician scheduling and administrative orders.

Medical Support Assistant GS-4:

Experience: One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade.; OR,

Education: One year of education above high school.

AND

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to the experience or education above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

• Knowledge of basic medical terminology to assist in the provision of care to patients.
• Skill in recording patient messages and understanding physician requests pertaining to follow-up medical care in internal or external clinics.
• Ability to meet, communicate, and interact with individuals from varying backgrounds and other health care team members in a courteous and helpful manner in order to facilitate medical care for patients.
• Ability to use, and navigate between, various types of office automation equipment and software (i.e., computer systems, web based scheduling programs; insurance collection system; scanning software, multiple line phone systems; electronic faxing programs) to support patient care.

Assignment: This is a developmental level MSA position. It is expected that MSAs at this level will receive minor and less frequent guidance from higher experienced staff members for more difficult tasks. Assignments at this level include, but are not limited to: scheduling and rescheduling patients for treatment; interviewing patients for appointments; referring patients to other medical specialty clinics; providing information to patients necessary to resolve VA Handbook complaints; interacting with both internal and external customers; reviewing and documenting medical outpatient and inpatient electronic health records, as well as administrative records; verifying third party insurance and updating information in the Insurance Capture Buffer (ICB) system; obtaining medical information from patients; coordinating information and actions related to patient care and services; and scheduling appointments in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines. MSAs at this level refer all questions regarding medical attention to the appropriate health care team member.

Medical Support Assistant GS-5:

Experience: One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade; OR,

Education: Two years of education above high school.

AND

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to the experience or education above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

• Advanced knowledge of medical terminology specific to understand medical diagnosis and procedures sufficient to communicate clinical staff instructions to patients.
• Skill in customer service with the ability to identify customer concerns, and refer to the appropriate staff, as necessary, to ensure a satisfactory resolution.
• 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.
• Ability to schedule medical appointments in a clinical setting.
• Ability to work independently in the accomplishment of a wide variety of duties performing patient support work.
• Ability to communicate effectively and professionally in person, electronically, and/or by telephone, with internal and external customers.

Assignment: This is the full performance level for MSAs. At this level, the MSA independently performs a full range of duties related to the delivery of health care services in an inpatient or outpatient setting. Advises clinical staff on current administrative processes. The MSA is responsible for answering phones, greeting patients, relaying messages to appropriate staff inside or outside of the unit, and 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.).

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-05. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-03 to GS-05.

Physical Requirements: See VA Handbook 5019.