Medical Support Assistant

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Lexington (KY); On-site; USD 32,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Lexington, KY seeks a Medical Support Assistant to support the Patient Support Section within Health Administration Service on-site at the Lexington facility.

Primary duties include scheduling and rescheduling patients, interviewing for appointments, referring patients to clinics, and verifying insurance and patient information in electronic health records. Applicants must meet citizenship, education, and English proficiency requirements.

Qualifications

• Scheduling and rescheduling patients for treatment.
• Interviewing patients for appointments.
• Refer patients to other medical clinics and provide information for policy resolution.

Responsibilities

• Reviewing and documenting medical outpatient and inpatient records and insurance data.
• Entering and updating patient information in electronic systems.
• Coordinating information and actions related to patient care and services.
• Scheduling medical appointments in a clinical setting.

Skills

Scheduling

Customer service

Medical terminology

Communication

Education

High school diploma / GED

Tools

Electronic health records

Scheduling systems

Job description

Incumbent serves as a Medical Support Assistant in the Patient Support Section of Health Administration Service in Lexington, Kentucky. This assignment is at a two-divisional teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Kentucky Medical Center at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Lexington, KY. Incumbent will be assigned to the Cooper or Leestown Division as an inpatient Health Unit Coordinator or at the Cooper Division in the Emergency Department.

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

• 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. None.
• 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.
• Foreign Education. To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must be deemed at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. program by a private organization specializing in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials.
• Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements.
• English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

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 (Full Performance Level)

To qualify at this level, candidates must have: One year of experience equivalent to the GS-4 grade level. Examples of credible experience 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 policy 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 we-based applications to collect and verify insurance data; obtaining medical information from patients; coordinating information and actions related to patient care and services; and scheduling appointments in accordance with national scheduling guidelines.

OR

Education: Two years of education above high school

In addition to the experience or education above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

1. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology specific to understand medical diagnosis and procedures sufficient to communicate clinical staff instructions to patients.
2. Skill in customer service with the ability to identify customer concerns, and refer to the appropriate staff, as necessary, to ensure a satisfactory resolution.
3. 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.
4. Ability to schedule medical appointments in a clinical setting.
5. Ability to work independently in the accomplishment of a wide variety of duties performing patient support work.
6. Ability to communicate effectively and professionally in person, electronically, and/or by telephone, with internal and external customers.

Note: You must provide detailed information of your experience performed. Information such as "I was a Medical Support Assistant" is insufficient to determine your qualifications. Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hour worked per week.

Preferred Experience: Medical terminology, scheduling

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 GS-05.

Physical Requirements: The work is mainly sedentary but requires some bending, walking, standing and the carrying of such things as patient records, supplies and inter-office mail. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements.