Medical Support Assistant

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Indianapolis (IN); On-site; USD 37,000 - 48,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid Time Off

Federal health benefits

Job summary

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs at the Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis seeks a Medical Support Assistant to support physicians, nurses, and healthcare teams delivering direct patient care.

Key duties include handling scheduling, patient information management, and frontline clerical support using VA/EHR systems; strong customer service and effective communication are essential. Work hours are standard business week with potential call-center duties as needed.

Qualifications

• Advanced knowledge of medical terminology to understand diagnoses and procedures.
• Strong customer service skills with ability to identify concerns and refer to appropriate staff.
• Ability to operate computerized programs and systems to enter, modify, and retrieve sensitive information in EHRs and scheduling systems.
• Ability to schedule medical appointments in a clinical setting.
• Ability to work independently across a wide range of duties.
• Effective communication with internal and external customers in person, electronically or by telephone.

Responsibilities

• Provide clerical support to care teams and patient care processes.
• Screen and route phone calls and provide information per privacy rules and clinic processes.
• Schedule consultations, labs, and imaging based on physician orders.
• Coordinate with clinics to minimize patient travel and scheduling conflicts.
• Maintain patient confidentiality under HIPAA.

Skills

Medical terminology

Customer service

Computer systems

Appointment scheduling

Independence

Communication

Education

High school diploma / GED

Two years education above high school

Job description

This position is located at the Richard L. Roudebush VA Medical Center. The Medical Support Assistant is responsible for performing a variety of technical support duties that facilitate the work of physicians - nurses and other members of the medical facility who provide direct patient care.

Qualifications

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

• To qualify for appointment to this position - all applicants must possess the following: Citizenship: Be a citizen of the United States (U.S.)
• Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens according to 38 U.S.C.
• 7407(a)
• Experience
• No experience required
• Education
• High school diploma - General Education Development equivalency certificate - or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education
• Licensure/Certification/Registration
• 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)
• Grade Determinations: GS-5 Medical Support Assistant In addition to meeting basic requirement listed above - applicant must possess at least one year experience at or equivalent to work at the next lower level - GS-4 that provides the knowledge - skills - and abilities to perform successfully the work of the position
• Experience: One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade
• OR Education
• Two years of education above high school
• TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED Demonstrated Knowledge - Skills - and Abilities
• In addition candidates must demonstrated all of the KSA's below: (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
• 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. 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.
  

Duties

• VA Careers - Medical Support Assistant: https://youtube.com/embed/EE9c4XkaELo 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 other members of the medical facility who provide direct patient care
• MSAs are considered chief sources of patient care and patient flow information
• The MSA is a key member of the patient care team providing crucial administrative advice and guidance
• The MSA performs clerical work in support of the care and treatment given to patients
• 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
• The incumbent performs duties related to scheduling per the National Scheduling Directive and will interface with personal computer (PC) applications as well as numerous Vista applications and Federal Electronic Health Record (EHR)
• The MSA screens/receives phone calls in a courteous and timely manner - determines the nature of request and provides the information desired using privacy rules and established clinic processes
• Responsible for following through on providers' orders including scheduling appropriate consultation requests - labs - x-rays and various other specialty clinics available at the CBOC
• Schedule all appointments with the patient's input - either in person or by phone
• This may require a high level of coordination to avoid patients having to make multiple trips to the clinic whenever possible
• Notifies supervisor when clinic access is less than desirable or if an individual patient cannot be scheduled within mandated clinic timeframes
• Daily review of active/pending consults
• Assist the veteran in creating a beneficiary travel request via paper form or use of the veteran kiosk
• Meet - communicate - and interact with individuals from varying backgrounds and with other health care team members in order to complete job assignments
• Use various types of office automation equipment and software - to include ability to set up - organize - and maintain record systems
• Utilizes such programs and databases to make appointments in a clinical setting
• Maintains patient confidentiality with information - per HIPAA requirements
• Work Schedule: Monday - Friday - 8:00am -4:30pm Compressed/Flexible: Not Available Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #: 91462VS Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required Recruitment Incentive: Not Authorized Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave - 13 days of sick leave - 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment - up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth - adoption - or foster care placement of a child
• Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment - full time employees with a total family income below $144 -000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66
• Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)