Medical Support Assistant

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Vancouver (WA); On-site; USD 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

The Portland, OR VA Health Care System is hiring multiple Medical Support Assistants for its medical centers in Portland and Vancouver. This role involves crucial administrative support in managing appointments and the care of Veterans. Candidates should possess strong customer service and communication skills, along with a solid understanding of medical terminology and computerized systems.

Benefits

Paid Time Off: 37-50 days per year

Parental Leave after 12 months of employment

Child Care Subsidy for eligible employees

Federal retirement benefits

Comprehensive health insurance

Qualifications

• Must be proficient in spoken and written English.
• Experience in a medical or clinic setting preferred.
• Ability to operate computerized systems for appointment scheduling.

Responsibilities

• Schedule, cancel, and verify patient appointments.
• Update patient demographics and insurance information.
• Perform eligibility checks and assist in patient transfers.

Skills

Customer Service

Communication

Medical Terminology

Computer Skills

Education

High School Diploma or equivalent

Job description

The Portland, OR VA Health Care System is looking to fill multiple Medical Support Assistant positions at the Portland, OR VA Medical Center and the Vancouver, WA VA Medical Center.
The list generated from this announcement can be used up to 90 days to fill any additional vacancies that may arise.
Duties

Total-Rewards-of-an-Allied-Health-VA-Career-Brochure.pdf

Medical Support Assistant: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-MSA-VA-Career-Flyer.pdf

Medical Support Assistants provide administrative support to our clinical colleagues in the care of our Nation's Veterans. Our mission is to provide efficient and effective healthcare services by promoting and enabling the delivery of timely, accurate, accessible health care. VA is committed to cultivating a dedicated workforce of highly skilled employees who understand, believe in and take pride in VA's mission. MSAs are essential to the success of this mission and may be assigned to many areas (service lines) of the medical center that have a need.

GS-5: This is the full performance level MSA position. The MSA is responsible for scheduling appointments in accordance with national scheduling guidelines, including interpreting and verifying provider orders. Assignments at this level include, but are not limited to: scheduling, canceling, re-scheduling patient's appointments and/or consults; entering no-show information; monitoring the electronic wait list; preparing for clinic visits; monitoring both inpatient and outpatient appointments for areas of responsibility; ensuring encounter forms are completed in order to obtain appropriate workload credit; verifying and updating demographics and insurance information; processing all emergency and non-emergency transfers to other VA facilities or private hospitals; performing basic eligibility, co-pays and pre-authorization requirements for specific coverage.


Work Schedule: Typical tour of duty is Monday-Friday 8am-4:30pm. Available tours will be discussed during the interview process.
Compressed/Flexible:May be available.
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).
Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)
Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.
Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.
Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.
Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

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 Proficiency. MSAs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j

Preferred Experience: One-year experienceworking in a medical or clinic setting, scheduling appointments, referring patients to specialty clinics, collecting insurance documentation, documentation in electronic health records, and advanced medical terminology.
Grade Determinations:GS-5 MSA (Full Performance Level) Experience or Education. One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (experience working in a medical or clinic setting, scheduling appointments, referring patients to specialty clinics, collecting insurance documentation, documentation in electronic health records, and advanced medical terminology) or 4 years of education above high school (must provide Transcripts if using Education to qualify)
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and AbilitiesCandidates must demonstrate the KSAs below:

• Ability to operate computerized programs and systems to enter, modify and retrieve sensitive information/data into or from electronic medical records, scheduling systems and/or reports.
• Advanced knowledge of basic medical terminology specific to understand medical diagnosis and procedures sufficient to communicate clinical staff instructions to patients.
• Ability to make 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.
• 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. Published August 1, 2019

The full performance level of this vacancy is 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.