Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

Veterans Health Administration; Dayton (OH); On-site; USD 41,000 - 54,000; Full time

Job summary

The Advanced Medical Support Assistant (A/MSA) at Dayton VA Medical Center provides clerical and logistical support to the patient care team. The AMSA manages patient flow and interfaces with PC and Vista applications and the Federal EHR on inpatient units and in the ER.

Applicants pending educational or certification requirements may be referred and tentatively selected, but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

Qualifications

• US citizenship requirement for employment.
• English proficiency in speaking and writing as per VA guidance.
• High school diploma or GED; additional certificates acceptable.
• May qualify under grandfathering provisions for current VA employees.

Responsibilities

• Answer phones, greet patients, relay messages to staff.
• Schedule, cancel, and modify appointments per scheduling guidelines.
• Verify provider orders and update demographics/insurance at check-in.
• Coordinate transfers to other VA facilities or outside hospitals.
• Monitor appointment requests from multiple electronic sources.

Skills

Collaboration across clinicians

Prioritization & organization

Verbal and written communication

Healthcare process knowledge

Policies & procedures knowledge

Education

High school diploma or GED

Proficiency certificate from state board

Tools

Vista

Federal EHR

PC applications

Job description

The Advanced Medical Support Assistant (A/MSA) in Patient Business Service, Ward Administration at Dayton VA Medical Center performs technical and clerical duties to support direct patient care. As a key member of the patient care team, the A/MSA manages patient flow and provides critical administrative guidance. The role involves interfacing with PC and Vista applications, as well as the Federal Electronic Health Record (EHR), on inpatient units and in the ER.

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.

Education. High School Diploma, a General Education Development (GED) equivalency certificate, a proficiency certificate from the State or territorial-level Board or Department of education.

Certification. None required. 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-6 Experience - One (1) full year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level. This experience may include but is not limited to; 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 AMSA 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.). Note: This experience must be clearly demonstrated in your resume.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

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. 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.

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

Physical Requirements:

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-0679-06. The work is mostly sedentary. It typically requires sitting with sustained p