Medical Support Assistant

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Indianapolis (IN); On-site; USD 38,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

US Department of Veterans Affairs seeks a Medical Support Assistant (MSA) to support physicians, nurses, and other staff. The role involves clerical and administrative tasks to facilitate patient care within the VA Medical Center, including potential work in Call Center, Urgent Care, or interdisciplinary care teams.

The position requires basic eligibility criteria, such as U.S. citizenship and a high school diploma or GED, with KSAs focused on medical terminology, customer service, and

Qualifications

• Knowledge of medical terminology and how it relates to diagnoses and procedures.
• Strong customer service skills with ability to resolve concerns.
• Ability to enter, modify and retrieve sensitive information in systems.
• Experience scheduling medical appointments in clinical settings.
• Ability to work independently handling a variety of duties.
• Effective spoken and written communication with internal and external customers.

Responsibilities

• Perform clerical and administrative work to support physicians and staff.
• Support in call centers, urgent care, or interdisciplinary care teams as needed.
• Assist with scheduling and managing appointments and records.

Skills

Medical terminology

Customer service

Data entry and records

Scheduling appointments

Independent work

Professional communication

Education

High school diploma or GED

Job description

This position is in the Business Office at the VA Medical Center. The Medical Support Assistant (MSA) is responsible for performing a variety of technical support duties that facilitate the work of physicians, physician assistants, nurses, nursing assistants, and others. The MSA performs clerical and administrative work. The incumbent may work in the Call Center, Urgent Care, or in an interdisciplinary care team within a primary care team or specialty clinic on an infrequent basis.

Basic Requirements

• Citizenship: Be a citizen of the United States (U.S.)
• Education: High school diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education.

Grade Determinations

GS-05

Experience:

In addition to meeting the basic requirements, you must possess one (1) year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade level GS-04. Examples of creditable experience include but are not limited to: interviewing patients for appointments; referring patients to other medical specialty clinics; 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; and scheduling appointments in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines.

-OR

Education

(2) 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.

Grandfathering Provision. 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. 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).

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-5. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-5.

Physical Requirements

The work is mostly sedentary. It typically requires sitting with sustained periods of concentration. There will be some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of relatively light objects. The position may also require stooping, reaching, lifting, pulling, and other moderate exertion or strain. Incumbent may occasionally have to walk some distance to a meeting.