Medical Support Assistant

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Portland (OR); On-site; USD 39,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

VA Portland Health Care Systems in Portland, OR, seeks Medical Support Assistants at GS-3/4/5 to support patient care at the main campus and the Vancouver, WA hospital.

Entry and progression through GS levels require basic requirements with KSAs including communication, office automation, medical terminology, and appointment scheduling.

Citizenship and language requirements apply; GS-3 requires no experience, GS-4/5 require progressively more education/experience as described by the standard.

Qualifications

• Ability to communicate with individuals from varying backgrounds and health care team members.
• Ability to use office equipment and scheduling software to support patient care.
• Knowledge of basic medical terminology to assist in patient care.
• Skill in recording patient messages and understanding physician requests.

Responsibilities

• Meet, communicate, and interact with patients in a courteous and helpful manner.
• Operate computerized programs and scheduling systems to enter and retrieve patient data.
• Schedule medical appointments in a clinical setting.
• Provide patient support and work independently on a variety of duties.

Skills

Communication skills

Interpersonal skills

Medical terminology

Data entry

Customer service

Education

High school diploma

GED equivalency

Tools

Office software

Job description

VA Portland Health Care Systems is looking to fill Medical Support Assistants at the GS 3/4/5 level at the main campus location in Portland, Oregon and the VA Hospital located in Vancouver, Washington.

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement.

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 Proficient.
• 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.

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-3 MSA (Entry Level)

Experience or Education. None beyond the basic requirements.

GS-4 MSA (Developmental Level)

Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-3).

OR

Education: One year of education above high school.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. Candidates must demonstrate the KSAs below:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Knowledge of basic medical terminology to assist in the provision of care to patients.
4. Skill in recording patient messages and understanding physician requests pertaining to follow-up medical care in internal or external clinics.

GS-5 MSA (Full Performance Level)

Experience: One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-4)

OR

Education: Two years of education above high school.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. Candidates must demonstrate the KSAs below:

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

References

VA Handbook 5005/117, Medical Support Assistant Qualification Standard, GS-679.

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-3 to GS-5.

Physical Requirements

The work is mostly sedentary but may require periods of standing or walking however, there are no physical requirements for the 0679 Medical Support Assistant occupation.