Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Reno (NV); On-site; USD 42,000 - 66,000; Full time

Job summary

The VA Sierra Nevada Health Care System in Reno, NV is seeking a Medical Support Assistant in Ambulatory Care Service. The incumbent handles receipt, intake, and indexing of health and administrative information and uses PC and Vista applications to support patient care.

Clos­ing date for applications is 09/25/2026. GS-06 level with specialized experience requirements and KSAs outlined in the VA Qualification Standard.

Qualifications

• Basic requirement: United States citizenship.
• English language proficiency required for Advanced MSA role.
• Knowledge of MSA practices and KSAs in clinical support is expected.

Responsibilities

• Receive, intake, and index health and administrative information.
• Interface with PC and Vista applications to support patient care workflows.

Skills

MSA Practices

Healthcare administration

Prioritization and organization

Communication with clinicians

Job description

The position serves as a Medical Support Assistant in Ambulatory Care Service at the VA Sierra Nevada Health Care System, Reno, Nevada. The incumbent performs duties related to the receipt, intake, and indexing of health and administrative information. The incumbent will interface with personal computer (PC) applications as well as numerous Vista applications. To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/25/2026.

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: Advanced Medical Support Assistants must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Policy.

Creditable Experience

Knowledge of MSA Practices. To be creditable, the experience must have demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) associated with current MSA responsibilities or an equivalent administrative patient support role in a non-VA medical inpatient or outpatient setting. Experience satisfying this requirement may be paid/non-paid employment as an MSA or an equivalent position in a non-VA hospital or clinic setting.

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 as described in this standard, at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time.

Part-Time Experience.

Part-time experience as an MSA or equivalent administrative patient support in a non-VA medical inpatient or outpatient setting is creditable according to its relationship to the full-time workweek. For example, an MSA employed 20 hours a week, or on a 1/2-time basis, would receive one full-time workweek of credit for each two weeks of service.

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

For GS-06 In addition to the basic requirements you must demonstrate that you possess one year of specialized experience at the next lower grade level (GS-05).

You will be rated on the following Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities based on your application for this position: Please make sure that each is addressed in detail in the body of your resume

(a) 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.
(b) 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.
(c) Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians.
(d) 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.
(e) Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations.
(f) Ability to communicate tactfully and effectively, electronically, by phone, in person, and in writing, with internal and external customers.

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. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-06.

Physical Requirements:

This is primarily a sedentary position. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019