Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Davenport (IA); On-site; USD 42,000 - 64,000; Full time

Job summary

The Advanced Medical Support Assistant supports the Rehabilitation and Extended Care Service at the Quad Cities VA Clinic located in Davenport, IA. The GS-6 Advanced MSA coordinates patient care activities with independent decision-making and acts as an experienced resource for lower-grade MSAs.

Responsibilities include answering phones, greeting patients, relaying messages, and scheduling appointments in line with VHA guidelines; familiarity with medical terminology and collaboration across

Qualifications

• Experience delivering healthcare services in inpatient or outpatient settings is described as qualifying experience.
• Ability to advise clinical staff on administrative processes and coordinate scheduling per guidelines.
• Proficiency in communicating with internal and external customers across contexts.

Responsibilities

• Independently perform a full range of duties related to healthcare delivery in inpatient/outpatient settings.
• Answer phones, greet patients, relay messages to medical staff.
• Schedule appointments and interpret/verify provider orders per scheduling guidelines.

Skills

Health care process knowledge

Interdisciplinary collaboration

Medical terminology

Communication skills

Priority setting

Written communication

Education

High school diploma or GED

Job description

The Advanced Medical Support Assistant supports the Rehabilitation and Extended Care Service at the Quad Cities VA Clinic located inDavenport, IA. The GS-6 Advanced MSA is responsible for a wide range of duties requiring specialized administrative knowledge, independent decision-making, and advanced coordination of patient care activities. The incumbent serves as an experienced administrative support resource and may help guide and orient MSAs at lower grade level.

Basic Requirements

• a. Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States (U.S.). Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens
• b. Experience. None.
• c. Education. High school diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education.
• d. Licensure/Certification/Registration. None.
• f. Foreign Education. To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must be deemed at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. program by a private organization specializing in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials.
• g. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements.
• h. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

Grade Determinations

Medical Support Assistant (Advanced), GS-6

Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level

Examples of qualifying experience, include but are not limited to, independently performing a full range of duties related to the delivery of healthcare services in an inpatient or outpatient setting. Advising clinical staff on current administrative processes. Performing administrative support duties including answering phones, greeting patients, relaying messages to appropriate medical staff inside or outside of the unit, scheduling appointments, including interpreting and verifying provider orders in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines.

AND

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.

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 GS-6.