Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; West Haven (CT); On-site; USD 42,000 - 64,000; Full time

Job summary

VA Connecticut Health Care System in West Haven, CT seeks Four Advanced Medical Support Assistants to provide administrative support to the assigned section within a collaborative care model. Responsibilities include scheduling, patient communication, and data entry to support patient care teams.

Applicants with pending education/licensure may be referred; must meet basic VA requirements. Strong customer service and clerical skills recommended for success in a fast-paced clinic environment.

Qualifications

• High school diploma, GED, or state proficiency certificate.
• US citizenship required.
• English language proficiency.
• No prior experience required, referral possible for qualified candidates.

Responsibilities

• Provide administrative support to the assigned section.
• Assist with clinic scheduling and patient flow.
• Interact with clinicians, patients, families, and coworkers.
• Utilize scheduling and office software to maintain records and correspondence.

Skills

Customer service

Communication

Clerical skills

Scheduling

Education

High school diploma

GED equivalency

Tools

Scheduling software

Job description

These Four Advance Medical Support Assistants are part of the Department of Veterans Affairs, VA Connecticut Heath Care System, located in West Haven Connecticut. The incumbents are responsible for a wide range of assignments and provides administrative support to the assigned section. Work is performed collaboratively in a Interdisciplinary Coordinate Care delivery model Patient Aligned Care Team or Specialty Care Setting.

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: Be a citizen of the United States (U.S.). Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens according to 38 U.S.C. § 7407(a).
• 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.
• Licensure/Certification/Registration. None
• English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

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

Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) GS-06:

Experience

One (1) year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level in Federal service (GS-05). Experience includes: Clinic experience in a hospital or doctor's office setting to include scheduling a high volume of appointments annually. High level customer service skills as evidenced by daily interaction and communication with clinicians, patients, families and coworkers. Evidence of work in a clinic setting with multiple inputs (in person, telephone, instant message communications) that need timely and professional resolution. Evidence of specific computer scheduling programs or software utilized in a clinic or hospital. In addition to 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.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA)

In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate all of the following KSAs:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians.
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.
5. 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.
6. Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations.
7. 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.

Preferred Experience

• Excellent Customer Service
• Clerical or Administrative experience
• Medical Office experience

Reference

For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

Physical Requirements

See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements.

The work requires some physical exertion such as prolonged periods of standing, bending, reaching, crouching, stooping, stretching, and lifting moderately heavy items such as papers, books, manuals, record boxes and boxes of computer paper. Computers are used and therefore keyboarding is required. The work includes walking from area to area when covering other employees. Applicant may at times be exposed to stressful situations with Veterans.