Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; San Antonio (TX); Hybrid; USD 42,000 - 56,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Telework: Ad-hoc

Paid Time Off: 37–50 days/year

Parental Leave

Federal pension and 401(k)

Job summary

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs seeks an experienced Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) to provide high-level administrative support in a Veterans health contact center.

You will coordinate access to care across clinics, specialties, and community resources, handle calls and secure messages, schedule appointments, verify patient data, and route clinical concerns to care teams. The role requires independent judgment, knowledge of health care processes, and strong customer service skills to

Qualifications

• Advanced knowledge of the health care process and patient access coordination.
• Ability to collaborate with diverse clinical teams to ensure timely care.
• Excellent written and oral communication across multiple channels.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate access to care across clinics and community resources.
• Schedule, adjust, and track appointments and consults.
• Verify patient information and update records for accuracy.
• Respond to inquiries and route clinical questions to appropriate staff.
• Provide professional customer service and resolve access issues.

Skills

Advanced health-care process knowledge

Interdisciplinary coordination

Prioritization and organization

Effective communication

Education

High school diploma or GED

Job description

Summary

Provides advanced administrative support in a Veterans health contact center - coordinating access to care across clinics - specialties - community resources. Handles calls - secure messages - schedules and adjusts appointments and consults - verifies patient information - processes records and refill requests - routes clinical concerns - resolves access issues - and communicates with care team. Uses independent judgment - advanced systems - and customer service skills to support timely - accurate care.

Summary

Provides advanced administrative support in a Veterans health contact center - coordinating access to care across clinics - specialties - community resources. Handles calls - secure messages - schedules and adjusts appointments and consults - verifies patient information - processes records and refill requests - routes clinical concerns - resolves access issues - and communicates with care team. Uses independent judgment - advanced systems - and customer service skills to support timely - accurate care.

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
• Grandfathering Provision: Employees in VHA in this occupation - under a permanent - appropriate - and legal placement on the effective date of the qualification standard - May 7 - 2026 - are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the grade and/or assignment held - including positive education and registration/certification 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
• Physical Requirements
• See VA Directive and Handbook 5019 - Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements
• English Language Proficiency
• Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C.
• 7403(f)
• Grade Determination: Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) - GS-06
• Experience
• One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade - GS-05
• 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
• Reference: For more information on this qualification standard - please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/
• The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-06
• Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary
• Some work may require movement between offices - hospitals - warehouses - and similar areas for meetings and to conduct work
• Work may also require walking/standing - in conjunctions with travel to and attendance at meetings and/or conferences away from the work site
• Incumbent may carry and lift light items weighing less than 15 pounds
• Creditable Experience
• To be creditable - the experience must have required the use of 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 or 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 of the position being filled
• For this assignment - the higher-level duties must consist 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
• Part-Time Experience
• Part-time experience is creditable according to its relationship to a full-time workweek
• For example - an individual employed 20 hours per week - or on a half-time basis - would receive credit for 1 full-time workweek for each 2 weeks of service.

Duties

• Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Coordinates Veterans' access to care across multiple clinics - specialties - and community care resources
• Schedules - cancels - reschedules - and monitors appointments and consults in accordance with VA scheduling requirements
• Receives and responds to incoming and outgoing contacts through telephone - secure messaging - chat - text - and video
• Screens - routes - and escalates clinical questions or symptomatic concerns to the appropriate clinical staff or service
• Uses advanced administrative judgment to resolve access-to-care issues and determine appropriate courses of action
• Reviews and manages appointment requests from multiple electronic sources to maintain Veteran flow and clinic readiness
• Verifies and updates patient demographics - medical information - and other records for accuracy and completeness
• Coordinates care for Veterans receiving services across multiple VA locations or through community providers
• Processes medication refill requests and supports related administrative healthcare activities
• Provides Veterans and caregivers with accurate information about VA programs - services - and available resources
• Communicates and collaborates with interdisciplinary care teams - VA facilities - and non-VA healthcare organizations
• Resolves Veteran concerns and complaints while providing professional customer service - including interactions with challenging or distressed individuals
• Work Schedule: Monday-Friday - 7:30am to 4:00pm Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases
• When setting pay - a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade)
• 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) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual - based on prior [work experience] or military service experience
• 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) Telework: Available - ad-hoc only - as determined by the agency policy
• Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #: 54505-F Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized