Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; San Antonio (TX); On-site; USD 42,000 - 62,000; Full time

Job summary

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is seeking an Advanced Medical Support Assistant (MSA, GS-6) to support a Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) in Primary Care and Mental Health settings. The role involves coordinating clinic access, communicating with care teams, and assisting with inpatient-to-outpatient transitions.

Employees use CPRS, VistA, and scheduling tools to manage appointments and patient flow. A strong emphasis is placed on team collaboration, documentation, and timely follow-up

Qualifications

• Six months clerical or customer service experience.
• Education: one year above high school or equivalent.
• English proficiency in speaking and writing per VA standards.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate with patient care team to review clinic utilization and adjust schedules.
• Develop and maintain communications with patients, interdisciplinary teams, VA facilities, and outside agencies.
• Assist with inpatient-to-outpatient discharge communications.
• Process secure messaging between patients and care teams.
• Enter data into the electronic medical record and monitor pre-appointment requirements.
• Participate in team huddles and meetings to plan patient care and priorities.

Skills

Clerical experience

Customer service

Interdisciplinary coordination

English fluency

Education

One year above high school

Tools

CPRS

VistA

VistA Scheduling

Microsoft Word

Outlook

Teams

When to Work

Message Manager

Job description

Summary Advanced Medical Support Assistant assigned to a Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) model - in Primary Care - Mental health - Specialty Care Setting - Inpatient Ward - and Eligibility and Enrollments. The PACT team let is a primary care team that generally consists of a primary care provider (MD - NP - PA) - registered nurse care manager - clinical associate (LPN or medical assistant/health technician) and an administrative associate (MNMSA/health technician).

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 and Education
• Experience
• Six months experience of clerical - office - [customer service] - or other [administrative] work that indicates the ability to acquire the particular knowledge and skills needed to perform the duties of the position
• OR Education
• One year above high school
• OR Experience/Education Combination
• Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable
• English Language Proficiency
• MSAs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005 - Part II - Chapter 3 - Section A - paragraph 3.j
• 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: Applicant must meet the Basic Requirement - the Specialized Experience - AND demonstrate all the required Knowledge - Skills - and Abilities in this announcement
• Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) - GS-6 Experience
• One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level
• Assignment
• The Advanced MSA provides 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
• Recommends 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 My Healthy Vet 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)
• For all assignments above the full performance level - the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope - administrative independence - complexity (difficulty) - 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
• Demonstrated Knowledge - Skills - and Abilities
• Candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs below: 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
• 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
• 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)
• Preferred Experience: 1 Year experience in scheduling medical appointments
• Reference: For more information on this qualification standard - please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/
• 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

Duties

• VA Careers - Medical Support Assistant: https://youtube.com/embed/EE9c4XkaELoTotal Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Duties include but are not limited to: Coordinate with the patient care team to review clinic utilization using reports such as the Clinic Utilization Statistical Summary Monitor clinic setup to support clinical needs and make necessary adjustments
• Develop and maintain effective communication with patients - interdisciplinary teams - medical centers - and outside agencies
• Assist with communication during inpatient-to-outpatient discharge processes
• Communicate with non-VA medical facilities as needed
• Facilitate and process secure messaging between patients and care teams
• Notify patients of normal lab results
• Develop and manage tracking systems for follow-up care (consults - tests - etc.)
• Participate in team huddles and meetings to plan and coordinate patient care
• Set priorities - deadlines - and adjust workflow to meet patient and team needs
• Reinforce the plan of care and enter appropriate data into the electronic medical record
• Monitor pre-appointment requirements to ensure the patient is ready for visits or procedures (X-ray - labs - etc.)
• Evaluate patient information and clinic schedules to determine vested status
• Educate providers about shared patients receiving care from multiple VA or community sources
• Perform higher-level duties requiring administrative independence and complexity at least 25% of the time
• Coordinate patient care by interpreting and verifying provider orders per VHA scheduling guidelines
• Evaluate clinics and provider schedules to accurately schedule Veterans within required timeframes upon discharge
• Maintain effective communication with interdisciplinary teams - nursing staff - patients - families - VA facilities - and other agencies
• Facilitate secure messaging with outpatient clinics to ensure timely scheduling for follow-up care across PACT and specialty clinics
• Problem-solve operational issues and perform administrative follow-up actions
• Collaborate with various teams to ensure continuity of care
• Provide clerical support including mailing letters - phone calls - printing labels/armbands - maintaining rosters - and running reports (inpatient roster - morning report - G&L - critically ill lists - OR schedules)
• Accurately process all patient movements (inter-ward transfers - discharges - RAS - AS passes <96 and >96 hours)
• Screen for required administrative and medical documentation (advance directives - organ donation screenings - preregistration info)
• Use programs such as CPRS - VistA - VistA Scheduling - VCM - Microsoft Word - Teams - Morning Report - ICB - Message Manager - When to Work - and Outlook to complete duties efficiently
• Work Schedule: Monday - Friday - 7:30am to 4:00pm or 8:00am to 4:30pm Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): 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)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: Telework available on a Ad-hoc basis
• Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #: 53753-F Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized