Medical Support Assistant

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Veterans Administration (CA); On-site; USD 42,000 - 54,000; Full time

Job summary

The Greater Los Angeles VA Health Care System at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center is seeking a Medical Support Assistant. The role emphasizes customer service, identifying concerns, and ensuring satisfaction, with duties including appointment scheduling and using computer systems.

Qualifications include US citizenship, English proficiency, six months of clerical/customer service experience, and two years of college or equivalent education. This is a full-time position within the VA.

Qualifications

• Six months of clerical, office, customer service, or other administrative work indicating ability to acquire necessary skills.
• Two years above high school or equivalent education.
• Equivalent combination of experience and education acceptable for entry level.

Responsibilities

• Answering phones, greeting patients, and relaying messages to appropriate staff.
• Schedule, cancel, or reschedule patient appointments and/or consults; update demographics and insurance information.

Skills

Customer service

Scheduling appointments

Computer proficiency

English proficiency

Clerical/administrative experience

MS Office

Education

Two years above high school

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

The Greater Los Angeles VA Health Care System is seeking a highly energetic candidate to fill the Medical Support Assistant vacancy at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center. The ideal candidate must be skilled in customer service with the ability to identify customer concerns and ensure overall customer satisfaction and resolution. In addition, candidate must possess the ability to operate computer programs, and scheduling of appointments.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. MSAs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, paragraph 3.j.
• Experience. Six months experience of clerical, office, customer service, or other administrative work that indicates the ability to acquire the particular knowledge and skills needed to perform the duties of the position OR,
• Education. Two years above high school OR,
• Experience/Education Combination. Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable.
• Certification. None required.

Customer Service

Must have at least six months of customer service experience in a position that required daily direct customer interactions. Meets the needs of the Veteran customers while supporting VA missions. Consistently communicates and treats customers (Veterans, their representatives, visitors, and all VA staff) in a courteous, tactful, and respectful manner. Provides the Veteran with consistent information according to established policies and procedures. Handles conflict and problems in dealing with the customer constructively and appropriately. 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).

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

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 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).

(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.

Grade Determinations

In addition to the basic requirements for employment listed in paragraph 3 above, the following education and experience criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates:

Medical Support Assistant, GS-5

Experience:One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade level

Education. Two years of education above high school

AND,

Must also meet all KSA's:

• (a) Advanced knowledge of medical terminology specific to understand medical diagnosis and procedures sufficient to communicate clinical staff instructions to patients.
• (b) Skill in customer service with the ability to identify customer concerns, and refer to the appropriate staff, as necessary, to ensure a satisfactory resolution.
• (c) 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.
• (d) Ability to schedule medical appointments in a clinical setting.
• (e) Ability to work independently in the accomplishment of a wide variety of duties performing patient support work.
• (f) 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 healthcare 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, 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. Coordinates administrative functions relating to emergency and non-emergency transfers to other VA facilities or private hospitals and determines appointment type based on the patient's eligibility status i.e., TRICARE, sharing agreements, collaterals, research patient, VA employee, etc.).

The full performance level of this vacancy is 5. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of 5.

Physical Requirements:

The work is sedentary. Typically, the employee sits comfortably to do the work. However, there May be some walking; standing; bending; carrying of light items such as papers, books, small parts; or driving an automobile, etc. No special physical demands are required to perform the work. The work environment involves everyday risks or discomforts which require normal safety precautions typical of such places as offices, meeting and training rooms, or libraries. The work area is adequately Lighted, heated, and ventilated.

Reference:

For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.