Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Edisonville (PA); On-site; USD 40,000 - 58,000; Full time

Job summary

The Lebanon VA Medical Center in Lebanon, PA, seeks a Medical Support Assistant (Advanced), GS-06, to provide administrative support across Primary Care. You will assist physicians, physician assistants, ARNPs, nurses, and other staff, coordinating appointments and communications.

Duties include greeting patients, scheduling, updating demographics and insurance, handling transfers, and supporting clinical workflows in a busy office setting.

Qualifications

• US citizenship required; non-citizens may be appointed per VA policy.
• High school diploma, GED, or state/provincial Education equivalency.
• English proficiency in speaking and writing is required.
• Experience: One year at GS-5 level or equivalent is required for advancement.

Responsibilities

• Provide administrative support to physicians, physician assistants, ARNPs, nurses, dietitians, social workers and staff in Primary Care.
• Schedule and coordinate patient appointments, verify information, and relay messages.
• Assist with patient check-in, demographics, insurance information, and transfers as needed.
• Support clinic workflows and multi-disciplinary coordination to ensure timely patient care.

Skills

Collaboration with clinicians

Prioritization & organization

Communication (verbal & written)

Healthcare process knowledge

Policies & procedures knowledge

Medical terminology

Education

High school diploma / GED

Job description

This position is located at the Lebanon VA Medical Center in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and provides support to the Health Administration Service. Responsibilities include providing administrative assistance to physicians, physician assistants, advanced registered nurse practitioners, nurses, dietitians, social workers, and other administrative and professional staff throughout the Primary Care service area.

Basic Requirements:

Citizenship: United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.

Experience and Education:

• Experience. None
• Education. High school diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education.

English Language Proficiency: Medical Support Assistants must be proficient in spoken and written English.

Certification: None required

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.

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.

Employees in VHA in this occupation, under a permanent, appropriate, and legal placement on the effective date of the qualification standard, are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the grade and/or assignment held, including positive education and registration/certification where applicable. For employees who do not meet all the basic or assignment-specific requirements in this standard but met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed, the following provisions apply:

(1) 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.

(2) Employees retained in this occupation under this provision who subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation.

Grade Determinations:

In addition to the basic requirements for employment, candidates must meet the following grade-determining criteria for placement at grade levels specified.

Medical Support Assistant (Advanced), GS-06

Experience: One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level. Experience includes, but is not limited to: answering phones, greeting patients, relaying messages to appropriate staff inside or outside of the unit; scheduling, canceling, re-scheduling patient appointments and/or consults, including interpreting and verifying provider orders in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines; 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; 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.).

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

• 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.

Preferred Experience:

Medical Scheduling

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.

Physical Requirements:

Work is performed in an office setting and is primarily sedentary. May require lifting and carrying of light loads (e.g. files, records, etc.)