Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

Summary

This position is located at the Lebanon VA Medical Center in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and provides support to the Health Administration Service. Responsibilities include providing administrative assistance to physicians, physician assistants, advanced registered nurse practitioners, nurses, dietitians, social workers, and other administrative and professional staff throughout the Primary Care service area.

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Duties

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The Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) 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 multiple clinics, specialties, and /or care in the community resources. Some of the major duties of this position include, and are not limited to:

• 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.
• Verifying and updating demographics and insurance information when patient's 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.).
• Recommend changes to existing clinic procedures based on current administrative guidelines.
• 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 adjusts 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 coordinate with care team as appropriate.
• Participate 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.
• Enters appropriate information into the electronic record; monitors pre-appointment information and/or requirements to assure readiness for patient visit/procedure.
• Manage patient systems to verify and validate accuracy and resolve issues; evaluate patient information and clinic schedule lists to determine whether the patient requires an immediate appointment; informs team members about shared patients.

Work Schedule : Monday- Friday; 7:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., or 7:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. or , 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Telework : Not Available.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement # : 595-04116-F

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives : Not Authorized

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.
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the 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.
• 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.

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).

• 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.
• 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.

Grade Determinations : In addition to the basic requirements for employment, candidates must meet the following grade-determining criteria for placement at grade levels specified.

Medical Support Assistant (Advanced), GS-06

Experience: One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level. Experience includes, but is not limited to: 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; 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. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

• 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.
• 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.

Preferred Experience: Medical Scheduling

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

Physical Requirements: Work is performed in an office setting and is primarily sedentary. May require lifting and carrying of light loads (e.g. files, records, etc.)

Education

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:

Additional information

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.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

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.

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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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.