Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Harlingen (TX); On-site; USD 42,000 - 54,000; Full time

Job summary

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System seeks an Advanced Medical Support Assistant to support outpatient services and access to care, coordinating appointments, updating demographics, and handling the electronic waiting list.

The role requires strong clerical skills, ability to work with clinical staff, and to communicate with patients; duties include phone reception, scheduling, and data entry into the electronic medical record.

Qualifications

• One year of creditable experience equivalent to GS-5 in delivering health care services in an inpatient or outpatient setting.
• Advanced knowledge of medical terminology and health care processes will be beneficial.

Responsibilities

• Answer phones, greet patients, relay messages to appropriate staff, and schedule appointments.
• Enter and verify demographic and insurance information in the electronic medical record.
• Coordinate administrative functions for transfers to VA facilities or private hospitals.
• Assist with patient processing and customer service and support access to care across clinics.

Education

High school diploma or GED

Job description

Summary

The incumbent serves as an Advanced MSA within an outpatient clinic setting in the Health Administration Service of the VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System. The incumbent's work impacts the administrative aspect of patient care - including access - scheduling/coordinating appointments using advanced clinic access principles - collecting - and updating demographic and insurance information - managing Electronic Waiting List - patient processing and customer service.

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
• 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
• Licensure/Certification/Registration
• None
• 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
• 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 - candidates must meet the following grade-determining criteria
• Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) - GS-06:Experience
• One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-5)
• Experience includes duties related to the delivery of health care services in an inpatient or outpatient setting
• Advises clinical staff on current administrative processes
• The MSA is responsible for answering phones - greeting patients - relaying messages to appropriate staff inside or outside of the unit - and 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.)
• 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
• 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)
• 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. Physical Requirements: Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for the occupation and would generally not require a pre-placement examination.

Duties

• Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional The incumbent's work impacts the administrative aspect of patient care - including access - scheduling/coordinating appointments using advanced clinic access principles - collecting - and updating demographic and insurance information - managing the Electronic Waiting List (EWL) - patient processing and customer service
• Incumbent is responsible f or assuring that various aspects of staffing - training - compliance - reporting - quality assurance - and budgetary initiatives are met
• These activities directly affect the revenue cycle - patient access to care - hospital performance goals and objectives - as well as VHA public image
• The incumbent plays an integral role in identifying and developing ways to resolve problems with the administrative and clinical staff on access - customer service - patient flow - revenue - and data validation issues
• Work Schedule: 8:00am-4:30pm - Monday-Friday Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #: 522667-F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases
• 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 into retirement)
• Preferred Experience: 1 year experience working in a clinical environment coordinating clinic schedules for providers 1 year experience scheduling patients in a medical appointment software in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model 1 year experience managing patient communications in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model (telephone and/or email) 1 year experience documenting appropriate information into an electronic medical record 1 year of administrative/office customer skills in de-escalation - problem solving - decision making - and tactful communication skills - orally and in writing