Medical Support Assistant - Advanced

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

Job summary

Chalmers P. Wylie VA Medical Center is seeking an Advanced Medical Support Assistant (A/MSA) to support physicians, nurses, and care teams.

The role focuses on patient flow information, clinic scheduling, and handling electronic medical records within a complex, interdisciplinary care delivery model. The AMSA will work under supervision to coordinate care across clinics, maintain documentation, and assist with communications between inpatient and outpatient teams while adhering to VA guidelines

Qualifications

• US citizenship required by VA policy
• High school diploma or GED required
• English proficiency in spoken and written form required
• No licensure or certification required

Responsibilities

• Assist with scheduling and patient flow across clinics to ensure access to care.
• Coordinate with care teams to manage appointments and follow-up care.
• Enter information into the electronic record and prepare reports as needed.
• Assist with communications during discharge and with coordination with non-VA facilities

Skills

Advanced health care process knowledge

Interdisciplinary coordination

Medical terminology

Team collaboration across clinicians

Prioritization & time management

Strong written and verbalcommunication

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Job description

This position is located in Patient Business Services at the Chalmers P. Wylie VA Medical Center. The Advanced Medical Support Assistant (A/MSA) is responsible for performing a variety of technical support duties that facilitate the work of physicians, physician assistants, nurses, nursing assistants, and other members of the medical facility who provide direct patient care. A/MSAs are considered chief sources of patient care and patient flow information. 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.
• Experience: None.
• Education: High school diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State of territorial-level Board of Department of Education
• Licensure/Certification/Registration. None.
• 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

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

Advanced Medical Support Assistant, GS-06.

• Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level.
• Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians.
  • 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.
  • Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations.
  • 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.

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).

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-06. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-06.

Physical Requirements:

The work is mostly sedentary. It typically requires sitting with sustained periods of concentration. There will be some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of relatively light objects. The position may also require stooping, reaching, lifting, pulling, and other moderate exertion or strain. Incumbent may occasionally have to walk some distance to a meeting.