Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Charleston (SC); On-site; USD 52,000 - 74,000; Full time

Job summary

The Advanced Medical Support Assistant (AMSA) in Charleston (GS-0679-06) provides specialized administrative support within the Surgical Care Service. The role focuses on scheduling, patient flow, and coordination with interdisciplinary teams to ensure timely access and quality care.

Applicants must meet basic VA requirements and demonstrate strong clerical, communication, and medical terminology skills in a fast paced clinical environment.

Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent; some postsecondary education preferred.
• Experience in clerical, office, or customer service work indicating ability to learn health care processes.
• Familiarity with medical terminology and clinical workflow is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Provide administrative support in Surgical Care Service and inpatient clinics.
• Assist with scheduling across interdisciplinary care teams.
• Enter information accurately into CPRS and other health IT systems.
• Coordinate with care teams to manage patient flow and appointment availability.

Skills

Scheduling

Clerical work

Customer service

Communication

Medical terminology

Education

High school diploma

Tools

VISTA

CPRS

Job description

Summary

The Advanced Medical Support Assistant (AMSA) serves as a Medical Support for Surgical Care Services and has the ability to fully perform the duties/functions related to all aspects of the full performance Advanced Medical Support Assistant - GS-0679-06 position in Charleston especially scheduling in a large clinical service line. *The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this occupational series. For more information - refer to Required Documents below.

Qualifications

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: Applicants appointed to direct patient care positions must be proficient in spoken and written English
• Experience: Some 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: High school diploma with desire for some post graduate education
• 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: Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) - GS-06
• Experience
• One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade
• Knowledge - Skills - and Abilities (KSAs)
• In addition to the experience above - the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: (a) Advanced knowledge of the technical health care process (including - but not limited to - scheduling across interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery and/or care in the community models and patient health care portals) as it relates to access to care
• (b) Advanced knowledge of policies and procedures associated with interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery and/or care in the community operational activities that affect patient flow - and patient support care administrative functions to include - but not limited to appointment cycles - outside patient referrals - follow‑up care - overbooking - provider availability - etc
• (c) Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians
• (d) Ability to collaborate and communicate with a wide range of medical clinicians across multiple disciplines (e.g - medical doctors - nurse practitioners - physician assistants - psychologists - psychiatrists - social workers - clinical pharmacists - and nursing staff) to accomplish team goal setting to ensure medical care to patients is met
• (e) Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines - ensuring compliance with established processes - policies - and regulations
• (f) Ability to communicate tactfully and effectively - electronically - by phone - in person - and in writing - with internal and external customers
• This may include preparing reports in various formats and presenting data to various organizational levels - as well as resolving patient concerns
• Assignment
• For all assignments above the FPL - the higher-level duties must be of significant scope - administrative independence - complexity - and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time
• At the advanced level - the Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) (AMSA) performs difficult and responsible specialized and expert administrative patient support while working collaboratively in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model
• Work involves specialized administrative judgment and the flexible use of a wide range of clinical flow processes relating to access to care across multiple clinics - specialties - and/or care in the community resources
• Recommend changes to existing clinic procedures based on current administrative guidelines
• Expertise in utilizing numerous advanced patient systems in support of multiple clinics involved in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model
• Coordinates with the patient care team to review clinic appointment availability (utilization) to ensure that clinic schedules are closely monitored to effectively support the needs of the clinics - and makes adjustments as necessary
• MSAs at this level develop and/or maintain effective and efficient communication with the patient - interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model teams - VA medical centers - and other agencies (e.g - assist with communications during the inpatient to outpatient discharge
• communicate with non-VA medical facilities
• prepare correspondence to notify patients of normal lab results
• manage a system for follow‑up care such as consults - tests - etc.)
• Other assignments at this level include - but are not limited to: processes incoming patient secure messaging through MyHealthyVet and coordinates with care team as appropriate
• participates in team huddles and team meetings to manage - plan - problem solve - and follow‑up with patient care by sharing information and collaborating with the interdisciplinary team
• setting priorities and deadlines - adjusting the flow and sequencing of the work to meet team and patient needs
• identifies incomplete encounters and communicates findings to providers
• as needed
• assists the team to reinforce the plan of care and self‑help solutions
• enters appropriate information into the electronic record
• monitors pre‑appointment information and/or requirements to assure readiness for patient visit/procedure
• manages patient systems to verify and validate accuracy and resolve issues
• evaluates patient information and clinic schedule lists to determine whether the patient requires an immediate appointment
• informs team members about shared patients (i.e - those who receive their care at multiple VA centers or those who receive care in the community)
• Preferred Experience: Strong background in scheduling - working in specialty clinics and a comprehensive understanding of medical terminology
• 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-6. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-6
• Physical Requirements: The work of the positions is primarily sedentary
• however - some walking - standing - bending stooping and carrying of small items such as files may be required.

Duties

• Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional The Advanced Medical Support Assistant (MSA) position provides medical administrative support to the Surgical Care Service and is an integral member of the inpatient clinic team to effectively carry out day‑to‑day administrative operations of the clinic
• Provides specialized and expert administrative patient support while working collaboratively in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model
• When records are received - the incumbent will ensure that all necessary health/administrative information are integrated into Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) by sending documents to scanning
• The incumbent responsible for coordinating information and actions related to patient care services on the phone - including - but not limited to the following: Familiar with the MSA related VHA Directives for: Outpatient Scheduling Processes and Procedures - Process for Managing Patients when patient demand exceeds current clinic capacity - priority scheduling for Surgical Care Services and Inpatient hospital care
• Knowledge of patient eligibility for VA medical care - priorities for care - release of information - HIPPA laws and the Medical Fee Basis programs
• Performs duties including - but not limited to: updating demographic information - updating BMS Whiteboard - collecting insurance for third party collections and processing patient movements
• Must demonstrate technical expertise in the use of multiple systems (i.e Vista and GUI) and current computer technology
• Skills in compiling readily available data from prescribed sources
• Schedules appointments and utilizing the electronic Waiting List in a timely manner
• Possess working knowledge of inpatient and clinic processes and services
• Provide administrative support to variety of staff and other members of the interdisciplinary team
• Must provide excellent customer service and must adhere to VA local - National and Service policies and procedures
• Performs other clerical duties in the Surgical Care Service as assigned
• Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:30am-4:00pm 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) 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 in retirement) Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #:62678F