Supervisory Medical Support Assistant

Summary

The Supervisory Medical Support Assistant is a highly, specialized position and performs multiple duties. The incumbent collaborates with various Service Chiefs and Supervisors across the health care system and interfaces with VA and Community providers, hospitals, diagnostic and treating facilities, and community-based programs. The incumbent will act in the capacity of liaison/expeditor between patients and clinical staff as well as specialty staff and ancillary services.

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Duties

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The Supervisory Medical Support Assistant plans, directs and controls the full range of administrative functions and clerical support functions in the Office of Community Care. Provides administrative and clerical assistance; guidance and support to the professional staff and manages the day-to-day activities of the Community Care department, ensuring policies and procedures are followed as they relate to community care. Interviews and selects new administrative employees subject to the approval of the Chief, Community Care Service. Tracks the progress of new employees, evaluates the performance of all assigned Lead and Advance Medical Support Assistants, counsels when necessary and submits justifications for incentive awards or personnel actions. The Supervisory Medical Support Assistant performs duties independently within the frameworks of established policies and regulatory directives. Additionally, the Supervisory Medical Support Assistant takes part in strategic planning meetings to assure departmental projected budgets are met.

Duties include but are not limited to:

• Initiates personnel actions, maintains personnel related records, establishes performance standards and competencies, completes performance ratings, writes position descriptions and functional statements, and handles all matters related to counseling, disciplinary action, grievances, etc.
• Approves and certifies timecards and manages overtime and tours of duty.
• Assigns and evaluates work to subordinate staff (consults, notifications, authorizations, uploads, etc.)
• Evaluates and manages customer service and the telephone, secure messaging, and other communication systems within the Office of Community Care
• Resolves workplace issues and maintains efficient workflow.
• Oversees staff orientation and on-the-job training and development of SOPs.
• Performs all HR/personnel actions for their subordinate positions.
• Serves as a knowledge reference. Identifies and participates in performance improvement/systems redesign projects.
• Serves as a representative to Veterans and the public on matters related to the El Paso VAHCS Office of Community Care.

The Supervisory MSA will assign and evaluate the work of subordinate staff; resolve complex issues to ensure patient services are met; identify educational or training needs of subordinate staff and full supervisory responsibility for supervising at least one Lead MSA and multiple Advance Medical Support Assistants. Develops or updates procedures, policies, or standards. Develops an ongoing customer service program with emphasis on the first impression, interacts with patients, develops trust and setting the tone for the patient experience. Consults with managers or other personnel to resolve problems in areas such as performance, staffing, or work schedules. Extracts and analyzes data to provide reports in support of performance measures to Chief, CCS. Creates reports to identify the timeliness of referral processing and initial appointments and develops a quality-of-care monitoring program.

Duties continued in Education section

Work Schedule: 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM, Monday - Friday

Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized

Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases.

Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.

Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.

Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66.

Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA

Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)

Telework: This position is eligible for situational (ad hoc) telework only. The selectee is required to report to the official duty station each scheduled workday. Telework may be approved only on a case-by-case basis with supervisory approval. Routine or recurring telework is not authorized for this position.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 52805-F

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements ( Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.

Qualifications

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.
• Education. High School diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from State or territorial-level Board of Department of Education.
• 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.

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, GS-08

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

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: Candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs below:

• Advanced knowledge of managing or leading patient support staff in a clinic. This includes independently utilizing reference sources, decision making, and 13 empowering the team to collaborate and resolve problems within a complex systems environment.
• Ability to provide the full range of administrative and supervisory duties [to at least one subordinate MSA supervisor or team leader in a patient support setting which includes assignment of work, performance evaluations, selection of staff, and recommendation of awards and/or advancements.
• Ability to collaborate, communicate, and demonstrate customer service and interpersonal skills with internal and external customers to ensure quality/continuity of care and ensure compliance with established policies and regulations.
• Ability to provide briefings, orientations, staff development, and training [in a patient support setting].
• Ability to manage fiscal matters, forecast resource and equipment needs, and identify budget needs.

Preferred Experience:

• 2 Years work experience scheduling medical appointments.
• 1 Year work experience auditing appointments scheduled.
• Experience training and orienting Medical Support Assistants.
• 1 Year experience performing competency assessments on schedulers.
• Experience resolving customer complaints.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-08.

Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. Some work may require movement between offices, hospitals, warehouses, and similar areas for meetings and to conduct work. Work may also require walking/standing, in conjunctions with travel to and attendance at meetings and/or conferences away from the work site. Incumbent may carry and lift light items weighing less than 15 pounds.

Education

Duties continued:

Initiates all requests for personnel action, performance appraisals, certification of time, interviews applicants and makes recommendations to the Chief, CCS for the selection. Responsible for developing and maintaining all administrative records for employees under their supervision, to include labor mapping and cost center assignments, personnel actions and records, FTE rosters and emergency preparedness plans and recall rosters. Handles all employee-labor relations issues and meets with Union as necessary to ensure a positive and productive relationship

Notifies and advises the Chief, CCS of all administrative issues and concerns within the Office of Community Care. Prepares reports and participates in the annual business planning process to determine resources, tools, and equipment necessary to function efficiently and effectively. Has ability to manage fiscal matters, forecast needs, and identify budget requirements. Utilizes computerized programs and databases to enter, modify, and retrieve sensitive information and various data into or from electronic medical records, scheduling systems, and/or reporting formats.

The incumbent leads and participates in staff meetings and huddles and other team meetings to manage and plan patient care; setting priorities and deadlines, adjusting workflow and sequencing of the work to meet team and patient and unit needs. The Supervisory MSA will create and maintain work environment that fosters productivity, customer service and employee satisfaction and acting as liaison between AMSA and staff to resolve conflicts.

The Supervisory MSA will serve as a knowledge reference for staff regarding programs and processes conducted in the OCC. The incumbent is required to have knowledge of the Community Care processes and services. The incumbent will attend Veteran fairs, town hall meetings, and other public events to promote the VA Office of Community Care.

Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit:

NOTE : If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.

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A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new windowLearn more about federal benefits.

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Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.