Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Town of Tomah (WI); On-site; USD 52,000 - 66,000; Full time

Job summary

US Department of Veterans Affairs, Tomah VA Medical Center in Tomah, Wisconsin, seeks an Advanced Medical Support Assistant at the GS-6 level within Health Administration Services. The role involves handling access, scheduling, and patient processing under VHA guidelines to support clinical operations.

Applicants must meet all requirements by 11/09/2026. The position emphasizes collaboration with clinical staff, accurate demographics, and efficient appointment management in a busy ambulatory

Qualifications

• One year of experience directly related to MSA duties (GS-06 level)
• Strong communication across multidisciplinary teams
• Ability to schedule and coordinate appointments per VHA guidelines
• Knowledge of care delivery processes and patient flow
• Familiarity with medical terminology and documentation

Skills

Cross-disciplinary collaboration

Prioritization & organization

Communication skills

Care access knowledge

Policy knowledge

Medical terminology

Education

High school diploma or GED

Proficiency certificate (state/territory)

Job description

The position serves as an Advanced Medical Support Assistant in the Tomah VA Medical Center in Tomah, Wisconsin within Health Administration Services (HAS) department. The incumbent's work impacts the administrative aspect of patient care, including: access, scheduling/coordinating appointments using advanced clinic access principles, collecting and updating demographic and insurance information, identifying basic eligibility, patient processing and customer service. To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/09/2026.

Basic Requirements

• Citizenship: Must be a United States Citizen.
• 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.
• 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.
• Foreign Education: To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must have been submitted to a private organization that specializes in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education must have been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. programs.

IN ADDITION TO MEETING THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS LISTED ABOVE, YOU MUST MEET THE GRADE REQUIREMENTS AT THE GS-06 LEVEL TO QUALIFY FOR THIS POSITION.

GS-6 LEVEL GRADE REQUIREMENTS

Specialized Experience: Must have one (1) year of experience that is directly related to the duties of a MSA and that equips you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of this position. To be creditable, this experience must be equivalent to the next lower grade level, GS-05, and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with current MSA responsibilities. Experience at this level includes, but is not limited to: Advising clinical staff on current administrative processes. Answering phones, greeting patients, relaying messages to appropriate staff inside or outside of the unit, scheduling, canceling, re-scheduling patient appointments and/or consults including interpreting and verifying provider orders in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines. Entering no-show information; monitoring appointment requests from multiple electronic sources; 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. Coordinates 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.).

AND,

DEMONSTRATED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES: Candidates must demonstrate [all of] the KSAs below:

• KSA-1. Ability to collaborate and communicate with a wide range of medical clinicians across multiple disciplines to accomplish team goal setting to ensure medical care to patients is met.
• KSA-2. Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations.
• KSA-3. Ability to communicate tactfully and effectively, electronically, by phone, in person, and in writing. This may include preparing reports in various formats and presenting data to various organizational levels, as well as resolving patient concerns.
• KSA-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.
• KSA-5. Advanced knowledge of policies and procedures associated with interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery and/or care in the community operational activities that affect the patient flow, and patient support care to include, but not limited to appointment cycles, outside patient referrals, follow-up care, overbooking, provider availability, etc.
• KSA-6. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians.

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.

Physical Requirements

The work is primarily sedentary. Physical demands do not exceed those of a typical office setting. There may be some walking, standing twisting, turning, sitting, pushing, bending, repetitive keyboarding, or carrying of light items. Some positions may require sitting for long periods of time at a computer terminal typing data while talking on a telephone headset.