Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Morristown (TN); On-site; USD 35,000 - 43,000; Full time

Job summary

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs seeks an Advanced Level Medical Support Assistant to work with the healthcare team to support interdisciplinary patient care. The role handles intake, indexing, scheduling, and communications, interfacing with VA and non-VA providers to streamline patient flow.

Requirements include a high school diploma or GED. Applicants may be referred while meeting education/certification requirements. Strong English proficiency and clerical accuracy are essential.

Qualifications

• Ability to collaborate with a wide range of medical clinicians across multiple disciplines.
• Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines.
• Strong written and verbal communication with internal and external customers.
• Advanced knowledge of care delivery processes and patient access.
• Advanced knowledge of policies and procedures related to care delivery and patient flow.
• Knowledge of medical terminology used by clinicians.

Responsibilities

• Receive, intake, and indexing of health and administrative information.
• Answer phones, greet patients, and relay messages to appropriate staff.
• Schedule appointments and ensure scheduling guidelines are followed.
• Interpret and verify provider orders to schedule within guidelines.
• Maintain documentation and ensure adherence to policies and regulations.

Skills

Collaboration

Prioritization

Communication

Healthcare processes

Policy knowledge

Medical terminology

Education

High school diploma

GED equivalency

Proficiency certificate from State/territorial Board

Job description

The Advanced Level Medical Support Assistant (MSA) collaborates with other members of the healthcare team in the clinic to provide a robust interdisciplinary approach to care. Important interfaces and collaborations also occur with larger health care system providers including VA and non-VA specialists, hospitals, diagnostic and treating facilities, and community-based programs. The incumbent performs duties related to the receipt, intake, and indexing of health and administrative information. 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

• Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States (U.S.). Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens according to 38 U.S.C. § 7407(a).
• Experience. No experience required.
• 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
• English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

Grade Determinations

In addition to the basic requirements above, applicants must meet the following experience:

Experience.

One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level GS-5 Medical Support Assistant grade level. Duties at this level include, but are not limited to: performing a full range of duties related to the delivery of healthcare services in an inpatient or outpatient setting; answering phones; greeting patients; relaying messages to appropriate staff inside or outside of the unit; scheduling appointments; including interpreting and verifying provider orders to schedule within scheduling guidelines.

AND

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

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

Grandfathering Provision.

Applicants 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).

Note: You must provide detailed information of your experience performed. Information such as 'I was a Medical Support Assistant' is insufficient to determine your qualifications. Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hour worked per week.

Note: Quality of Experience.

Qualifying experience must be at a level comparable to MSA experience or equivalent administrative clinical support role in a non-VA medical inpatient or outpatient setting at the next lower grade level. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity/difficulty and a range of varieties.

Reference:

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

Physical Requirements:

Typically, the Advanced Medical Support Assistant must be able to operate a computer terminal and be able to manage multiple activities at one time. Work is generally sedentary; however, there may be some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of light items. Work Environment: The work may be stressful due to the accelerated pace for several hours at a time during peak clinic hours or on days that have a large volume of clinic activity.