Medical Support Assistant

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Lewiston (ME); On-site; USD 34,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Lewiston, ME is seeking a Medical Support Assistant (MSA) for the Primary Care team at the Community Based Outpatient Clinic.

This full-time position (40 hours per week) supports clinical staff by scheduling appointments, greeting patients, and handling patient information. The MSA will work with electronic health records and scheduling systems, perform patient intake, and coordinate transfers when needed, ensuring accuracy of demographics and insurance

Qualifications

• High school diploma or GED required.
• Proficient in spoken and written English.
• Ability to operate scheduling systems and enter patient data.

Responsibilities

• Answer phones, greet patients, and relay messages to staff.
• Schedule, reschedule, and cancel patient appointments.
• Enter and retrieve patient information in electronic health records.
• Verify demographics and insurance information at check-in.

Skills

Medical terminology

Customer service

EHR systems

Appointment scheduling

Communication

Education

High school diploma or GED

Job description

This Medical Support Assistant (MSA) position is in Primary Care at the Community Based Outpatient Clinic (CBOC) in Lewiston Maine. This position is full time 40 hours per week. 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.
• Education: High school diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education;
• English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f)

Grade Determinations

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.

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-5.

Physical Requirements

See VA Handbook 5019