Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Jefferson Barracks (MO); On-site; USD 42,000 - 62,000; Full time

Job summary

US Department of Veterans Affairs seeks a Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) to schedule consults and be the first point of contact for patients and partners. The AMSA coordinates a wide range of clerical tasks and supports access to care across clinics and community resources.

At the GS-06 level, incumbents apply advanced knowledge of healthcare processes, patient flow, and coordination with clinicians, while prioritizing duties and maintaining electronic records with accuracy.

Qualifications

• Advanced knowledge of the healthcare process including scheduling across interdisciplinary care delivery and care in the community.
• Advanced knowledge of policies and procedures affecting patient flow, appointment cycles, referrals, follow-up care, and provider availability.
• Advanced medical terminology understanding for clinicians.
• Ability to collaborate with a wide range of medical clinicians to achieve team goals.
• Ability to set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines and regulations.
• Effective communication with internal and external customers via various formats; resolve patient concerns.

Responsibilities

• Schedule and coordinate patient consults across clinics and community resources.
• Serve as primary contact for patients and community partners; manage patient communications and inquiries.
• Enter information into electronic records and review clinic schedules for optimal utilization.
• Monitor readiness for patient visits and manage follow-up care in coordination with care teams.

Skills

Advanced healthcare process knowledge

Interdisciplinary coordination

Patient communication

Electronic health records

Priority setting

Report preparation

Education

High school diploma / GED

Job description

The Technology, Innovation, and Development Service is seeking an Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) to serve as the primary scheduler for consults and first point of contact for patients and community partners. The AMSA plans and coordinates the clerical functions of consults and is responsible for a broad range of administrative and clerical duties.

The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this occupational series. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

This is an open continuous announcement until December 31, 2026. Qualified applicants will be considered and referred as vacancies become available.

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.
• 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: 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).

Grandfathering Provision

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 - Medical Support Assistant (Advanced), GS-06

Experience

One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs)

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians.
4. 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.
5. Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations.
6. 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 patientconcerns.

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/

This position is above the full performance level.

Physical Requirements

The work is usually sedentary, but it requires periods of walking, standing, bending, or climbing, and employees may carry light items such as books, instruments, laptops, and other similar materials. The work is conducted in office, conference room and clinical/hospital patient care settings. Typically, the work is hazard-free, not requiring any special clothing or equipment.