Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

Summary

The incumbent serves as a Medical Support Assistant in Ambulatory Care. S/he works at a two-divisional teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Kentucky (UK) Medical Center at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center, Lexington, Ky. The primary duty station for this position is the Lexington Sousley Campus. The incumbent may be required to occasionally travel to Community Based Outpatient Clinics

(CBOCs) to provide on site support as assigned.

Learn more about this agency

Duties

Help

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Duties include but not limited to:

• Provides advanced administrative support in both clinic and call center settings, ensuring the scheduling of appointments and patient flow actions are performed correctly, in accordance with VHA policy.
• Collaborates with interdisciplinary care delivery models, such as Patient Aligned Care Teams (PACT) or specialty care teams, to ensure clinic utilization is optimized.
• Reviews reports and utilizes clinic management tools to identify and resolve clinic scheduling issues, missed opportunities, and no-show rates.
• Develops and maintains effective communication with patients, VA and non-VA offices, other agencies, and the care team (including communication during transitions of care, discharge, and secure messaging).
• Coordinates follow-up care, such as consults, labs, recalls, and tracking systems; monitors pre-appointment readiness and resolves issues related to patient scheduling.
• Educates and assists providers and staff with scheduling protocols and interpreting orders, including support for shared or community care patients. Participates in team huddles and meetings, providing input on operational issues, helping plan care, and following up on administrative actions to ensure continuity for patients.
• Serves as the initial point of contact for Veterans, families, and representatives who call the Daytime Clinical Call Center, aiming for first-call resolution and delivering accurate, compassionate, and efficient support.
• Ensures accurate and timely entry of data in electronic health records and other required systems.
• Processes requests for appointments, health care information, complaints, and other administrative needs while maintaining professionalism and confidentiality even when interacting with distressed or challenging callers.

Work Schedule : Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm

Recruitment Incentive (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 : Available

Virtual: This is not a virtual position

Functional Statement # : 31353F

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements

Help

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

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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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 : In addition to the basic requirements, you must meet the following grade requirements.

GS-06 Medical Support Assistant (Advanced): To qualify at this level, candidates must have one year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level. Examples of credible experience at this level include, but are not limited to: scheduling and rescheduling patients for treatment; interviewing patients for appointments; referring patients to other medical specialty clinics; providing information to patients necessary to resolve policy complaints; interacting with both internal and external customers; reviewing and documenting medical outpatient and inpatient electronic health records, as well as administrative records; verifying third party insurance and updating information in we-based applications to collect and verify insurance data; obtaining medical information from patients; coordinating information and actions related to patient care and services; and scheduling appointments in accordance with national scheduling guidelines.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience or education above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

1. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology specific to understand medical diagnosis and procedures sufficient to communicate clinical staff instructions to patients.
2. Skill in customer service with the ability to identify customer concerns, and refer to the appropriate staff, as necessary, to ensure a satisfactory resolution.
3. Ability to operate computerized programs and systems in order to enter, modify, and retrieve sensitive medical and patient identifying information (PII) into or from electronic health records, scheduling systems, and/or reports.
4. Ability to schedule medical appointments in a clinical setting.
5. Ability to work independently in the accomplishment of a wide variety of duties performing patient support work.
6. Ability to communicate effectively and professionally in person, electronically, and/or by telephone, with internal and external customers.

Note: You must provide detailed information of your experience performed. Information such as "I was a Medical Support Assistant" is insufficient to determine your qualifications. Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hour worked per week.

Preferred Experience: Previous Time-Keeping experience preferred

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

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-06. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-06.

Physical Requirements: Typically, the Advanced Medical Support Assistant must be able to operate a computer terminal and be able to manage multiple activities at one time. Work is generally sedentary; however, there may be some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of light items. Work Environment: The work may be stressful due to the accelerated pace for several hours at a time during peak clinic hours or on days that have a large volume of clinic activity.

Education

There is no substitution of education for experience at this grade level.

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.

Help

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.

Review our benefits

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.