Medical Support Assistant

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; San Juan (PR); On-site; USD 33,000 - 42,000; Full time

Job summary

US Department of Veterans Affairs is seeking a Medical Support Assistant (MSA) to support the Nursing Service. The MSA collaborates with RNs, LPNs, Health Aides, and other team members to provide coordinated patient care.

The role includes front-desk duties, scheduling, and data entry to support clinical operations. Applicants must meet basic requirements, including education and English proficiency; emphasis on accurate scheduling and record-keeping to ensure seamless patient flow and

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.
• 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.
• Ability to use, and navigate between, various types of office automation equipment and software to support patient care.

Responsibilities

• Schedule and reschedule patients for treatment; interview patients for appointments.
• Refer patients to other medical specialty clinics and provide information to resolve VA Handbook complaints.
• Interact with internal and external customers and review medical outpatient/inpatient records; verify third party insurance.
• Coordinate information and actions related to patient care and schedule appointments per VHA guidelines.
• Review and update information in insurance capture buffers and other administrative systems.

Skills

Medical terminology

Patient messages

Communication

Office automation software

Education

High school diploma or GED

Two years of education above high school

Proficiency certificate from State board

Tools

Patient data systems

Scheduling programs

Insurance verification systems

Electronic health records

Job description

The Medical Support Assistant (MSA) serves as a clerk and is a foundational role within the Nursing Service. The MSA works collaboratively and with other members of the interdisciplinary team such as: The Registered Nurse, Licensed Practical Nurse/Vocational Nurse, Health Aid, Health Technician, etc to provide a robust interdisciplinary approach to 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 Handbook 5005, part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3g)
• Education: High school diploma OR General Education Development equivalency certificate, OR proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education.
• Grandfathering Provision. All MSAs employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series, and grade held, [which] are [a] part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements required in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply: (1) Such employees may be reassigned, promoted, or [changed to a lower grade] within the occupation. (2) 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. (3) If an employee who was converted to [Title] 38 hybrid status under this provision leaves the occupation, the employee loses protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation.
• Foreign Education. To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must have been submitted to a private organization that specializes in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education must have been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. programs.
• English Language Proficiency: Must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j.

SEE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOR SELECTIVE PLACEMENT FACTOR (SPF) REQUIRMENT

Grade Determinations

GS-3

Experience or Education: None beyond the basic requirements.

GS-4

Experience: One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade. Specialized experience include: utilize a variety of patient data systems in scheduling patients for treatment and annotate patient records.; perform front desk duties, receive telephone call, and visitors to the MSA unit; make and cancel appointments, review patient records for necessary information, and review patient demographics and insurance verification; consult with clinic staff when processing physician scheduling and administrative orders. OR

Education: One year of education above high school.

Candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs below:

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.

GS-5

Experience: One year of experience equivalent to the GS-04 grade level. Experience include: 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. OR

Education: Two years of education above high school.

Candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs below:

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.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

The full performance level of this vacancy is 05. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-03 to GS-05.

Physical Requirements: Physical demands include getting up and down from a sitting position to retrieve charts, supplies, taking messages to proper recipient who may include walking considerable distances. Crouching, bending and reaching above shoulder is required to file charts and attend to supply needs. Constant demands, such as continually ringing telephones, continued interruptions of work by staff, patients, and relatives. The tension generated by this type of work setting results in increased physiological demand on the employee. The incumbent is exposed to hazardous situations on a constant basis. The incumbent must be clean and neat in appearance.

References: VA Handbook 5005/117, Part II, Appendix G45, dated August 1, 2019. Medical Support Assistant Qualification Standard GS-0679. http://vaww.va.gov/OHRM/Directives-Handbooks/Documents/5005.pdf this can be found in the local Human Resources Office.