Medical Support Assistant

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Temple (TX); On-site; USD 32,000 - 46,000; Full time

Job summary

United States Department of Veterans Affairs, Temple, TX, seeks a Medical Support Assistant to assist with front desk duties, scheduling, and patient coordination in a care setting. The role supports clinic operations and patient care by handling requests, data entry, and communications with healthcare staff.

The position emphasizes accuracy, adherence to scheduling guidelines, and professional interaction with diverse patients and teams.

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.

Responsibilities

• Assist with front desk duties, answer calls, and greet visitors.
• Schedule and reschedule patient appointments in accordance with scheduling guidelines.
• Coordinate information and actions related to patient care and services.

Skills

Medical terminology

Customer service

Data entry

Clinic scheduling

Communication

Education

High school diploma or GED

State/provincial proficiency certificate

Tools

Office automation software

Electronic health records (EHR) systems

Job description

This position is in the Care in the Community Service at VA Central Texas Health Care System (CTXVHCS), Temple, Texas. The work requires a basic degree of judgment in responding to both employee, patient, vendor concerns and providing solutions to process problems. The MSA can independently perform position responsibilities with frequent supervision and demonstrates the ability to follow set priorities and deadlines, adjusting the flow and sequence of work to meet team and/or patient needs.

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.

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).

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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Licensure/Certification/Registration. None
• Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for 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-3: None beyond the basic requirements.

GS-4: Experience: One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-3). Experience includes, but is not limited to: applying general rules and policies relating to clinic functions, staff, and automated data processing methods in support of treatment to patients; utilize a variety of patient data systems in scheduling patients for treatment and annotates patient records; perform front desk duties, receives 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. (Transcript Required)

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

• 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 in order to facilitate medical care for patients.
• 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 creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-4). Experience includes, but is 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 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. (Transcript Required)

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

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

Preferred Experience

• Ability to work independently to accomplish a wide variety of duties, including setting priorities, care coordination tasks, and organizing workflow.
• Ability to communicate tactfully and effectively, both orally and in writing, to meet program objectives. This may include preparing reports in various formats and presenting data to various teams. Ability to gather and trend data to determine efficiency of internal processes at the Team /Pod level.
• Ability to operate computerized programs and databases to enter, modify and retrieve sensitive information/data into or from electronic medical records, scheduling systems and/or reports. Excel most importantly.
• Independently utilizes reference sources, decision making and team work to collaborate and resolve problems within a complex systems environment.
• Ability to identify customer's concerns, perform the tasks required to resolve the issue accurately and timely, and follow-up as necessary to ensure a satisfactory resolution.

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 to GS-05.

Physical Requirements

The work is sedentary. Some work may require movement between offices, hospitals, warehouses, and similar areas for meetings and to conduct work. Work may also require walking/standing, in conjunctions with travel to and attendance at meetings and/or conferences away from the work site. Incumbent may carry and lift light items weighing less than 15 pounds