Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Wilkes-Barre (Luzerne County); On-site; USD 42,000 - 58,000; Full time

Job summary

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs seeks Medical Support Assistant candidates to support multiple VISN areas with scheduling and front-desk tasks. Responsibilities include greeting veterans, scheduling and updating appointments, and coordinating transfers across VA facilities.

Advanced clerical skills and knowledge of medical terminology are required to support efficient patient care and data entry in electronic records systems. Telework is not available.

Qualifications

• High school diploma or GED required; English proficiency in speaking and writing.
• Experience with scheduling, appointment management, and medical office workflows.
• Ability to communicate with diverse medical staff and Veterans.

Responsibilities

• Answer phones, greet Veterans, relay messages to staff.
• Schedule, cancel, and reschedule patient appointments and consults.
• Coordinate transfers and manage appointment data across clinics.
• Enter information into electronic records and monitor pre-appointment details.
• Assist care team with patient flow and response to inquiries.

Skills

Scheduling appointments

Phone handling

Interdisciplinary coordination

Medical terminology

Education

High school diploma or GED

Tools

CRM system

Job description

Summary

Selectees from this announcement could be considered for any of the areas throughout the VISN where Medical Support Assistants are utilized. This announcement will be used to fill ANY open Medical Support Assistant vacancies for up to 90 days after closing. Applicants will be referred as vacancies become available.

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: Be a citizen of the United States (U.S.)
• 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
• 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:GS-06 - Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)Experience: One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-5).This is the full performance level for MSAs
• At this level - the MSA independently performs a full range of duties related to the delivery of health care services in an inpatient or outpatient setting
• Advises clinical staff on current administrative processes
• The MSA is responsible for answering phones - greeting patients - relaying messages to appropriate staff inside or outside of the unit - and scheduling appointments - including interpreting and verifying provider orders in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines
• Assignments at this level include - but are not limited to: scheduling - canceling - re-scheduling patient appointments and/or consults
• 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.)
• Knowledge - Skills - and Abilities (KSAs)
• In addition to meeting 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
• Assignment: For all assignments above the FPL - the higher-level duties must be 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
• At the advanced level - the Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) (AMSA) performs difficult and responsible 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
• Recommend 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 MyHealthyVet 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)
• 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: Work is primarily sedentary - although some slight physical effort may be required
• The ability to deal effectively with organizational change - role ambiguity and the stresses of juggling many priorities and rapidly responding to unanticipated critical situations is essential.

Duties

• VA Careers - Medical Support Assistant: https://youtube.com/embed/EE9c4XkaELoThe Advanced Medical Support Assistant 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 the Community Care interdisciplinary team model
• Some of the major duties of this position include - and are not limited to: Answering phones - communicating and relaying messages and information to Veterans - to appropriate staff inside or outside of the VA
• Ensuring accurate and timely scheduling - canceling - re-scheduling patient appointments and/or consults - including interpreting and verifying provider orders in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines to include changes in policies and procedures
• Processes patient and vendor issues through Customer Relationship Manager (CRM) and coordinates with appropriate entities
• Monitoring appointment requests from multiple electronic sources
• tracking patients' appointment status in the community and maintaining spreadsheets to validate data tracking - making follow-up (post-care) calls on a daily basis - completing electronic forms for authorization of community medical care by the VA
• Researching and maintaining an updated data base of community medical services to assist Veterans with locating medical care in the community
• 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.)
• Recommends process improvements to existing Care in the Community procedures based on current administrative guidelines
• Coordinates with the patient care team schedule and closely monitors to effectively support the needs Veterans - and makes adjustments as necessary
• Develop and/or maintain effective and efficient communication with the patient - interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model teams - VA medical centers - and other agencies
• Processes incoming patient secure messaging through MyHealthyVet - 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
• Enters appropriate information into the electronic record
• monitors consults - pre-appointment information and/or requirements to assure appointment readiness for patient visit/procedure
• ensuring transfer of medical records from and to the VAMC and other facilities - ensuring health care delivery
• Manages patient systems to verify and validate accuracy and resolve issues
• evaluates patient information and determines whether the patient requires an immediate appointment
• informs team members about shared patients
• Work Schedule: Monday through Friday 8am-4:30pm Telework: Not Available.Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
• PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized.