Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

Summary

The Advanced Medical Support Assistant is within the Oscar G. Johnson, VAMC (OGJVAMC). The clinics are patient-focused, outcome-oriented care systems in which efficient coordination of care is of primary concern. This care is tailored to each individual Veteran patient's needs, which allows for proper care, education and support of each Veteran.

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Duties

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VA Careers - Medical Support Assistant:

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Major Duties:

• Provides administrative support to clinicians and other administrative and professional staff throughout the medical center for purposes of coordinating outpatient and specialty care for Veterans.
• Schedule and cancel patient appointments utilizing Medical Center electronic patient scheduling packages paying particularly close attention to special instructions or requirements of clinic profiles.
• Promptly and courteously process all pertinent provider's orders and schedule according to Veteran's preference. This shall include scheduling all follow up appointments, referrals, record requests or releases from VA or private medical facilities, lab/x-ray/EKG or other special requests.
• Timely process clinic cancellations and assure appropriate rescheduling to include sending letters to the patients or calling when given short notice.
• Interprets and transcribes a variety of providers' orders.
• Determines medical care benefits for which the Veteran is eligible by means of a working knowledge of appropriate health administration related laws, policies, guidelines and regulations.
• Assists patients in completing various health questionnaires or other screening assessment tools.
• Acts as receptionist, electronically checking in patients, receiving patients/visitors and referring callers to appropriate team members.
• Directs consultant requests received from other areas to appropriate clinical staff members. Serves as a liaison between referring sources and the clinic staff.
• Incumbent determines which Veterans may require immediate medical evaluation based on observation and information received from the Veteran or significant other about the nature of their medical problem(s).
• Develops and maintains communication with the patient, interdisciplinary team, VA medical centers, and other agencies.
• Demonstrates Patient Centered Care (PCC) through the use of effective communication with patients, families, visitors, and members of the interdisciplinary team, including the patient in mutual goal setting, and providing patient advocacy when appropriate.
• Performs administrative duties associated with patient care and treatment for all categories of beneficiaries.
• Scheduling appointments and sending variety of letters to Veterans. Incumbent also scans current health insurance cards.
• Processes requests for information from hard copy or electronic patient medical records. Processes ROI in accordance with regulations governed by the Privacy Act, Freedom of Information Act and HIPPA.
• Other duties as assigned.

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

Telework : Not available

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement # : 02234F

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives : Not authorized

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized

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)

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).

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 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: 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.
• Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.
• English Language Proficiency: MSA's must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j.

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 :

Medical Support Assistant (Advanced), GS-06

• Experience: One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-05)

AND

• Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:
  • KSA-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.
  • KSA-2. Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations.
  • KSA-3. 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.
  • KSA-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.
  • KSA-5. Advanced knowledge of policies and procedures associated with interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery and/or care in the community operational activities that affect the 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.
  • KSA-6. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians.

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

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-06.

Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary. Physical demands do not exceed those of a typical office setting. There may be some walking, standing twisting, turning, sitting, pushing, bending, repetitive keyboarding, or carrying of light items. Some positions may require sitting for long periods of time at a computer terminal typing data while talking on a telephone headset.

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.

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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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.

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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.