Medical Support Assistant

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; San Diego (CA); On-site; USD 42,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in San Diego seeks a Medical Support Assistant to support Health Administration Service. The role involves scheduling patient appointments, processing electronic orders, and maintaining patient data in the electronic health record system.

Qualifications include a high school diploma or GED, U.S. citizenship, English proficiency, and the ability to work with medical terminology and healthcare software.

Qualifications

• Knowledge of medical terminology related to diagnoses and procedures.
• Strong customer service skills and ability to identify customer concerns.
• Ability to operate computerized programs and systems to enter, modify, and retrieve patient information in EHR/scheduling systems.
• Ability to schedule medical appointments in a clinical setting.
• Ability to work independently performing patient support duties.
• Ability to communicate effectively in person, electronically, and by telephone with internal and external customers.

Responsibilities

• Schedule patient appointments and manage scheduling workflows.
• Track, review, and respond to electronic orders, consults, and other items in the EHR.

Skills

Medical terminology

Customer service

Data entry

Communication

Education

High school diploma or GED

Job description

The incumbent serves as Medical Support Assistant (MSA) in Health Administration Service (HAS) at the San Diego VA Healthcare System. HAS has a large number of MSA positions and incumbents may be required to serve in Specialty Clinics. An MSA performs duties to include scheduling patient appointments, tracking, reviewing, and responding to electronic orders, consults, and other elements in the electronic medical record and medical systems.

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.

GS-5 Experience or Education:

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 Two years of education above high school.

-AND-

In addition to the experience or education above, 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.

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.