Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Shelbyville (IN); On-site; USD 42,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

The Advanced Medical Support Assistant position at Shelbyville supports physicians, nurses, and other care staff by handling a range of clerical and clinical support tasks. This role emphasizes patient intake, appointment coordination, and accurate data entry to ensure smooth clinic operations.

The job requires strong knowledge of medical terminology, effective communication, and the ability to work across disciplines to support timely patient care at the Shelbyville facility.

Qualifications

• Advanced knowledge of the technical health care process and access to care.
• Advanced knowledge of policies and procedures for coordinated care delivery and patient support admin functions.
• Advanced knowledge of medical terminology used by clinicians.
• Ability to collaborate with a wide range of clinicians to achieve team goals.
• Ability to independently prioritize and organize work to meet deadlines.
• Strong written and spoken communication with internal and external customers.

Responsibilities

• Assist physicians and nurses by performing technical support duties.
• Answer phones, greet patients, relay messages to staff.
• Schedule, reschedule, and manage patient appointments and referrals.
• Enter demographics and insurance information at check-in.
• Support transfer coordination between VA facilities or private hospitals as needed.

Skills

Advanced health-care process knowledge

Interdisciplinary coordination

Medical terminology proficiency

Staff collaboration

Prioritization and time management

Effective written and spoken comms

Education

High school diploma or GED

Job description

The position serves as an Advanced Medical Support Assistant for Primary Care at the Shelbyville location. The Advanced Medical Support Assistant (A/MSA) is responsible for performing a variety of technical support duties that facilitate the work of physicians, physician assistants, nurses, nursing assistants, and other members of the medical facility who provide direct patient care.

NOTE: You must include qualifying specialized experience employment periods in mm/yyyy to mm/yyyy format on your resume and indicate Full-Time or Part-Time (if Part-time, must include # of hours worked per week). AND, if you have held a Government position, that position's grade level MUST be listed on your resume; Failure to include all requirements in your resume may result in disqualification. Please refer to USAJOBS Help Center - What should I include in my federal resume? for additional information on resume requirements.

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.

In addition to meeting the basic requirements, you must have one (1) year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-05) Examples of creditable experience include but are not limited to: answering phones, greeting patients, relaying messages to appropriate staff inside or outside of the unit; scheduling, canceling, re-s scheduling patient appointments and/or consults; entering no-show information; participating in huddles with other MSAs and/or clinic staff to determine the daily needs of the clinic, monitoring both inpatient and outpatient appointments in areas of responsibility; verifying and updating demographics and insurance information when patients check‑in for appointments. Coordinating administrative functions relating to emergency and non-emergency transfers to other VA facilities or private hospitals and determines appointment type based on the patient's eligibility status (i.e., TRICARE, sharing agreements, collaterals, research patient, VA employee, etc.).

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.
• High school diploma or transcript (including homeschooling) OR,
• General Education Development (GED) certificate OR,
• Proficiency certificate issued by a State or Territorial Board or Department of Education OR,
• Post‑high school education

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

GS 6:

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (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.

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-6. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-6.

Physical Requirements

The work is mostly sedentary. It typically requires sitting with sustained periods of concentration. There will be some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of relatively light objects. The position may also require stooping, reaching, lifting, pulling, and other moderate exertion or strain. Incumbent may occasionally have to walk some distance to a meeting.