Medical Support Assistant

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 42,000 - 62,000; Full time

Job summary

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, VA San Diego Healthcare System, seeks a Medical Support Assistant to work with the Nursing Service. The role involves front desk duties, scheduling, and coordinating patient care using various health information systems.

Applicants must meet the basic education requirements and may be referred if cert/licensure is pending. Key KSAs include knowledge of medical terminology, patient messaging, and ability to use office automation tools to support care

Qualifications

• Knowledge of basic medical terminology to assist in the provision of care to patients.
• Skill in recording patient messages and understanding physician requests pertaining to follow‑up medical care in internal or external clinics.
• Ability to meet, communicate, and interact with individuals from varying backgrounds and other health care team members in a courteous and helpful manner to facilitate medical care for patients.
• Ability to use, and navigate between, various types of office automation equipment and software (computer systems, scheduling programs, insurance collection system, scanning software, phone systems, electronic faxing) to support patient care.

Responsibilities

• Serve in a front desk capacity, answer phones and greet patients.
• Make and cancel appointments, review patient records for necessary information, review demographics and insurance verification.
• Review and document medical outpatient and inpatient electronic health records, verify third party insurance and update information in systems.
• Schedule appointments in accordance with scheduling guidelines and coordinate information for patient care and services.

Education

High school diploma, GED or State proficiency certificate

Job description

The position serves as MSA in Nursing Service at the VA San Diego Healthcare System. MSAs at this level work collaboratively with the interdisciplinary team and other health care professionals to provide accessible care that meet patient needs. Must utilize an extensive knowledge base to provide timely and appropriate administrative duties to the inpatient/outpatient setting. Work requires knowledge of computerized data entry, information processing systems and software related to patient care.

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.
• English Language Proficiency: Must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).
• Education: High school diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education.
• 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.

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).

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. For employees who do not meet all the basic or assignment‑specific requirements in this standard but met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed, the following provisions apply:

1. Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed on a temporary or permanent basis until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.
2. Employees retained in this occupation under this provision who subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation.

Grade Determinations

GS-03

Experience or Education: None beyond the basic requirements.

Assignment: Employees at this grade level serve in a MSA entry‑level developmental position. This is an entry level MSA position. It is expected that MSAs at this level will receive guidance from more experienced staff members and require frequent and direct supervision. At this level, MSAs apply general rules and policies relating to clinic functions, staff, and automated data processing methods in support of treatment to patients. They utilize a variety of patient data systems in scheduling patients for treatment and annotate patient records. They perform front desk duties, receive telephone call, and visitors to the MSA unit. They make and cancel appointments, review patient records for necessary information, and review patient demographics and insurance verification.

GS-04

Experience: One (1) year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-03)

OR

Education: One (1) year of education above high school

AND In addition to experience, the candidate must demonstrate ALL of the following Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs):

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

Assignment: This is a developmental level MSA position. It is expected that MSAs at this level will receive minor and less frequent guidance from higher experienced staff members for more difficult tasks. Assignments 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 VA Handbook 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 the Insurance Capture Buffer (ICB) system; obtaining medical information from patients; coordinating information and actions related to patient care and services; and scheduling appointments in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines.

GS-05

Experience: In addition to the basic requirements above, all applicants must also have one (1) year of credible experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-4)

OR

Education: Two (2) years of education above high school.

AND In addition to experience, the candidate must demonstrate ALL of 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.

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.

Preferred Experience

• Background in healthcare or medical knowledge.
• Strong computer skills.
• Excellent customer service skills.
• Excellent organizational and time‑management skills.
• Flexibility to adapt to change.
• Dependability with schedules.

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 in the range of GS-03, GS-04, or GS-05.