Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

Summary

The James A. Haley VA Medical Center Dental Service provides care to both outpatients and inpatients at the Temple Terrace VA Clinic. The Dental Service provides comprehensive, focused care and consultative services to the eligible Veteran population. The complexity of care provided at these locations includes: general dentistry, endodontics, oral surgery, prosthodontics, oral & maxillofacial prosthodontics, and periodontics. This care is provided by staff dentists and specialty providers.

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Duties

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VA Careers - Medical Support Assistant:

General Duties

1) Coordinates and maintains overall patient flow of Dental Clinic Teams.

Receives patients and visitors in person or telephonically. Records and relays messages and/or redirects calls as necessary. Incumbent refers urgent messages and patient information for immediate action. Obtains identifying information and determines the nature of the visit/call. Insures eligibility for care and contacts appropriate staff member for verification, when necessary. Incumbent creates clinic scheduling matrices. Schedules appointments and provides information regarding clinic and hospital policies, procedures and locations to patients, family members, staff, etc..

2) Supports the Dental Service Chief's administrative obligations

Designs, collects and follows Advanced Clinic Access/System Redesign/Continuous Quality Improvement projects from clinical and administrative activities and participates in identifying areas for which continued or new monitoring is needed as well as monitors that no longer require attention.

3) Dental Service Productivity

Incumbent serves as Dental Service Point of Contact of dental fee basis programs. Participates in referrals for Non VA Clinical Care (NVCC). Liaises between private fee dentists, patients, NVCC claims examiners and Chief, Dental Service to ensure proper documentation is completed and plans are approved.

Essential Service-Specific Resource Roles:

1) Education Liaison for Dental Service

Keeps staff informed of the status of their education requirements. Tracks performed education by all dental staff.

2) Patient Advocate Liaison

Incumbent assists in handling patient complaints and inquiries. Identifies cases which require a higher level of input and refers to appropriate person.

3) Assists staff with hardware and software computer support needs and interacts with Service ADPAC.

4) Dental Service Administrative Support

Utilizes word processing, spreadsheet and PowerPoint functions of the personal computer, prepares letter and memorandum correspondence; acts as Timekeeper; routes mail; screens telephone calls and answers all but those which require the Chief's attention; takes minutes of staff meetings; independently collects and collates necessary data and completes and appropriately routes forms for equipment purchase, employee recruitment, employee travel, personnel action and irregular tour of duty. Inputs and tracks work order requests.

5) Dental Failed and No Show Appointments

Incumbent communicates with those who have excessive failed and no-show appointments. Strives to maintain Missed Opportunities below the 10% benchmark.

6) Contracted Services Liaison

Maintains work schedules and patient flow for contracted in-service dental providers. Incumbent coordinates between homeless program counselors and vocational rehabilitation counselors. Regularly prepares production reports and cost analysis reports. Coordinates, receives and verifies invoices for contract lab costs. Maintains database utilized for case tracking and lab expenditures.

7) Service Level Safety Officer Assistant

Attends coordinator meetings, disseminates newest information, policy and codes. Arranges appropriate training with Facility Safety Officer, Occupational Health, GEMS coordinator and/or Industrial Hygienist to ensure patient and employee safety.

8) MSDS Database Coordinator Assistant

Surveys clinic for products requiring MSDS documentation in on-line database. Uploads said information.

9) Inventory and Supply Coordinator

Maintains sufficient office supplies and ensures functioning office equipment. Conducts annual inventory of office, dental and lab equipment.

10) Records Control Officer

Maintains, scans and routes dental records to appropriate personnel.

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

Telework : Not Available

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement # : 70223F

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.
• 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 dentification 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: Be a citizen of the United States (U.S.). Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens according with VA Policy.
• Experience: None.
• Education: High school diploma OR high school transcript (unofficial or official) OR General Education Development equivalency certificate OR homeschooling completion OR proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education OR college transcript (official).
• Licensure/Certification/Registration. None
• Grandfathering Provision . 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).
• 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 : Medical Support Assistant (Advanced), GS-6

Experience: One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level that equips the candidate with the following:

1. 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;
2. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology specific to understand medical diagnosis and procedures sufficient to communicate clinical staff instructions to patients;
3. Schedule medical appointments in a clinical setting;
4. Work independently in the accomplishment of a wide variety of duties performing patient support work;
5. Communicate effectively and professionally in person, electronically, and/or by telephone, with internal and external customers;
6. Customer service with the ability to identify customer concerns, and refer to the appropriate staff, as necessary, to ensure a satisfactory resolution.

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

• (1) 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.
• (2) Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations.
• (3) Ability to communicate tactfully and effectively, electronically, by phone, in person, and 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.
• (4) 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.
• (5) 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.
• (6) Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of the language utilized by clinicians.

Reference: VA Handbook 5005/117, Part II, Appendix G45, dated August 1, 2019. Medical Support Assistant Qualification Standard GS-0679. For more information on this qualification standard, please visit

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-6.

Physical Requirements: The Advanced Medical Support Assistant work is mostly sedentary; however, some walking; standing, and carrying light items are required. Light filing, sometimes involving working close to the floor, is involved. Wrist and back protection can be provided to minimize the risks associated with prolonged use of automated data processing equipment.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on 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.

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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