Supervisory Medical Support Assistant

Summary

The Supervisory Medical Support Assistant plans and directs scheduling and health administrative services throughout the Durham VA Health Care System and has full supervisory responsibility as the direct line supervisor for the Lead and/or Supervisory Medical Support Assistant(s) and all Medical Support Assistant (MSA) staff within the assigned unit.

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Duties

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VA Careers - Medical Support Assistant:

FUNCTIONS OR SCOPES OF PRACTICE.

The Supervisory Medical Support Assistant is responsible for supervision and oversite of a Lead Medical Support Assistant and/or Supervisory Medical Support Assistant and all Advanced Medical Support Assistant staff assigned within their unit. The Supervisory has responsibility as a hiring official responsible for recruitment, selection, and onboarding of subordinate employees. The incumbent is responsible for continual performance assessment, training, and monitoring of program measures. The incumbent provides coaching support to subordinates and, when necessary, takes formal and informal disciplinary action with consultation of Employee Relations/Labor Relations staff. The incumbent will ensure self, and subordinates complete all required training within a timely manner.

The Supervisory Medical Support Assistant must adhere to all Equal Employment Opportunity, Whistleblower Protection, and Human Resources laws, directives, handbooks, and policies. The incumbent is responsible for addressing employee concerns in a timely and appropriate manner, ensuring closed-loop communication whenever possible. The incumbent is responsible for maintaining a Just Culture work environment where employees are comfortable reporting safety concerns without fear of retaliation. The incumbent is expected to utilize employee feedback to support ongoing improvement efforts. Employee feedback may be gathered through the All-Employee Survey, employee exit surveys and interviews, leader rounding, staff meetings and huddles, etc.

The Supervisory Medical Support Assistant must distribute and balance workload among employees in accordance with established workflow or job specialization, assure timely accomplishment of the assigned workload, ensure the workload is completed in accordance with facility and/or national performance measures and assure that each employee has enough work to reach the highest productivity standard. The GS-8 Supervisory MSA will set priorities and make daily adjustments in accordance with established priorities.

The Supervisory Medical Support Assistant will be a leave approving official for employees within their designated supervisory section. The incumbent must approve leave accurately, timely, and in accordance with all internal, medical center, and master agreement policies and procedures. The incumbent must ensure all leave postings are completed daily and in accordance with all internal, medical center, and master agreement policies and procedures. Incumbent must ensure the VATAs Timesheet is accurately updated each day prior to close of business to ensure employee's time is posted accurately. The incumbent must ensure the employees within the assigned supervisory section comply with all internal, medical center, and master agreement policies and procedures regarding requesting leave. The incumbent must ensure employees receive appropriate or applicable break periods. The incumbent must also ensure employee leave requests are coordinated with appropriate staffing requirements to meet the clinic's needs for continuous operation.

The Supervisory Medical Support Assistant is responsible for generating, analyzing, and tracking several reports pertinent to the work area. These reports include, but are not limited to unscheduled consults, open, active, and pending consult reports, no-show reports, unable to schedule report, the Insurance Capture Benefit (ICB) report, recall reminders, return to clinic orders, New Enrollee Appointment Request (NEAR), Encounter Action Required Report (EARR), consult toolbox usage, clinic utilization, and the VA Online Scheduling Appointment Activity (VAOS) reports.

Preferred experience:

- Strong leadership and supervisory skills, including assigning work, monitoring performance, mentoring staff, and resolving workflow issues.

- Ability to coordinate inpatient ward administrative functions such as admissions, discharges, transfers, and patient record accuracy.

- Proficiency in patient movement/corrections, Status Ds Report, Patient Observation Report, and Gains and Losses Report.

- Excellent communication skills for interacting with clinical teams, patients, families, and interdisciplinary departments.

- Skilled in problem-solving and process improvement to enhance patient flow, service delivery, and ward efficiency.

- Ability to train, guide, and support clerks and administrative staff to meet performance expectations and deliver high-quality customer service.

- Proficiency with VA systems such as VistA, CPRS, scheduling platforms, BMS, BioPoint, and other electronic medical record tools.

- Ability to handle sensitive patient information with professionalism, discretion, and adherence to privacy regulations.

Work Schedule : M-F 0730a-4p

Telework : Ad-Hoc

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. To qualify for appointment to this position, all applicants must possess the following:

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.

NOTE: This provision is not intended to regularize appointments/placements.

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).

OFFICIAL POSITION TITLES. All official documents relating to a position (for example, functional statements and personnel actions) must use the approved official title and grade level as described below.

Supervisory Medical Support Assistant, GS-08

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

Supervisory Medical Support Assistant, GS-08 .

(1) Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade.

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

(a) 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.

(b) 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.

(c) 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.

(d) Ability to provide briefings, orientations, staff development, and training in a patient support setting.

(e) Ability to manage fiscal matters, forecast resource and equipment needs, and identify budget needs.

(3) Assignment. For all supervisory assignments the Supervisory MSA must spend 25% or more of their time providing administrative and technical supervision and perform major duties above those at the FPL that consist of significant scope, complexity, difficulty, and variety. Supervisory MSAs at this level plan and direct programs at medical centers and/or satellite outpatient clinics. They have full responsibility for supervising at least one subordinate MSA team leader, supervisor, or equivalent administrative patient support staff in a VA medical inpatient, outpatient, or interdisciplinary setting. Assignments at this level include but are not limited to evaluating the work of subordinate staff; resolving complex problems to ensure patient services are met; evaluating new products, equipment, and systems to make recommendations for improved operations; identifying educational or training needs; making final decisions on hiring selections; evaluating performance and taking disciplinary action when necessary. The employee has administrative and professional responsibility for planning and directing the subordinate lead, supervisor, and MSA's activities. Responsible for extracting and analyzing data to provide reports to senior management in support of tracking measures.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-08. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-08.

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

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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