Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) - Patient Aligned Care Team

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Decatur (GA); On-site; USD 40,000 - 52,000; Full time

Job summary

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in Decatur, GA seeks an Advanced Medical Support Assistant (AMSA), GS-0679-06, to support the Patient Aligned Care Team and other clinics. You will manage appointments, coordinate information, and help ensure access and high-quality care.

This role emphasizes administrative judgment, communication with clinicians, and proficient use of patient systems to monitor schedules, assist with referrals and follow-up, and support patient care across multiple clinics.

Qualifications

• U.S. citizenship required or as allowed by policy.
• Education: high school diploma/GED or equivalent.
• No licensure required; grandfathering provisions may apply.
• Experience not required, entry-level GS-6 standard.

Responsibilities

• Schedule and coordinate appointments across clinics.
• Manage patient information and ensure access to care.
• Communicate with clinicians and patients to resolve issues.
• Enter data into electronic records and support referrals.

Skills

Scheduling across care teams

Interdisciplinary coordination

Medical terminology

Team communication

Prioritization & organization

Electronic health record usage

Education

High school diploma or GED

Tools

EHR systems

Job description

The Advanced Medical Support Assistant (AMSA), GS-0679-06, serves as a key administrative member of Patient Aligned Care Team and other interdisciplinary clinics, including Specialty, Surgery, Compensation and Pension, Call Center, Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs), and the Community Living Center. The AMSA provides critical administrative support, manages appointments, and coordinates information to ensure efficient access, revenue, strong customer service, and high-quality care. 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. 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.
• Grandfathering Provision. Grandfathering Provision. Employees in VHA in this occupation, under a permanent, appropriate, and legal placement on the effective date of the qualification standard, are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the grade and/or assignment held, including positive education and registration/certification where applicable. For employees who do not meet all the basic or assignment-specific requirements in this standard but met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed, the following provisions apply:
  • (1) Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed on a temporary or permanent basis until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.
  • (2) Employees retained in this occupation under this provision who subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet 5 the full VA qualification standard.
• Foreign Education. To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must be deemed at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. program by a private organization specializing in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials.
• Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements.

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)

• Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade level.

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. 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 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-6.