Lead Medical Support Assistant

Summary

The incumbent is assigned to the Patient Administration Section of the Business Office at the Columbia VA Healthcare System at the following locations: Columbia, Greenville, Sumter, Orangeburg, Spartanburg, Rock Hill, Anderson, and Florence County. Patient Administration is responsible for the administrative support of clinical services to include Primary Care and various Specialty Clinics located in the Community Based Outpatient Clinics.

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Duties

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The Medical Support Assistant (MSA) at this grade level is a Lead MSA. The Lead Medical Support Assistant (MSA) works independently and is considered the chief source of patient information and plays an important role in accomplishing the administrative work within the outpatient clinics by the duties listed below:

• Scheduling appointments in accordance with VHA Directive 1230 and VHA Directive 1232 (2); including canceling, re-scheduling, and no showing patient appointments and/or consults.
• Verify and update patient demographics to include capturing of insurance data via ICB Web.
• Ensure clinic assigned staff are taking appropriate patient actions within ISS (Integrated Scheduling Solutions) (scheduling, check-in, check-out, and no-shows) and in CPRS (clearing/reviewing alerts and signing off on notes entered) daily.
• Ensuring patient encounters are completed for clinics assigned by the end of each business day (no-shows and patient cancellations through AudioCare, VeText, ISS, CTM etc.).
• Ensuring that consults greater than 90 days have proper documentation for additional scheduling attempts or dispositioning directed by the provider.
• Responsible for tracking and management of Consults and Return to Clinic orders for clinics assigned.
• Responsible for providing feedback to providers when additional information for scheduling is required.
• Extracting medical information from electronic records when requested by Providers, Social Workers, Nurses, and Supervisors for patient education purposes only while maintaining HIPPA standards.
• Ensure clinic assigned staff is appropriately monitoring and maintaining the delinquent recall, insurance capture buffer exception list and proper use of Vet Link for clinics assigned.
• Receiving and directing patients and visitors, in person and by telephone (ACD), answering routine inquiries, and making appropriate referral of questions concerning patients' care.
• Coordinate patient transportation and/or travel concerns with the Veterans Transportation Service and Bene-Travel staff.
• Under the direction of the immediate supervisor, monitor and make daily work assignments, resolve daily workplace issues, and maintain efficient workflow in the clinics assigned.
• Complete daily rounds to ensure adequate administrative support coverage in all areas distributing and balancing workload in clinic areas assigned.
• Ensures accurate daily posting of employee's time assigned to specific T&L unit.
• Complete timely clinic modifications which include but not limited to cancellations, adding additional slots, inactivation's, once approved by the Supervisory Medical Administrative Specialist (Site Manager).
• Provides information of medical center policies and procedures.
• Ensures patient safety standards are meet by subordinate staff using the correct Veterans Affairs identification of all patients using two forms of identification.
• Collaborate, communicate, and demonstrate customer service and interpersonal skills with all professionals to ensure quality/continuity of care and ensure compliance with established policies and regulations.
• Orients and provides on-the-job training for new and current employees as required.

Work Schedule : Monday - Friday, 7:30am - 4:00pm. Work Schedule is subject to change based on agency need.

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

Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized.

Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases when setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).

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 : Not Available.

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement # : 61766F.

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.
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• 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.
• Must pass pre-employment physical evaluation/examination.
• 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.
• English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).
• 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.

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 for employment, candidates must meet the following grade-determining criteria for placement at grade levels specified.

Lead Medical Support Assistant, GS-07.

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

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

• Advanced knowledge of medical terminology and a wide range of clinical flow processes relating to access to care across multiple clinics, specialties, and/or community.
• Skill in communicating with individuals to obtain the desired effect and coordinating with a variety of interdisciplinary care team staff.
• Ability to utilize numerous advanced patient systems in support of multiple clinics in an interdisciplinary setting.
• Ability to organize work, set priorities, and delegate tasks/responsibilities in order to meet deadlines.
• Ability to provide staff development and training.
• Ability to manage staffing requirements, manage workflow priorities, and adjust the flow of work to meet team and patient needs. This includes the ability to follow-up on pending issues and demonstrate an understanding of the impact of incomplete work across multiple clinics.

Preferred Experience: None.

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

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-07. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-07.

Physical Requirements: This work requires some physical exertion such as prolonged periods of standing, bending, reaching, crouching, stooping, stretching, and lifting moderately heavy items such as manuals, record boxes, equipment or assisting patients.

See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements.

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

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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