Medical Support Assistant

The VA Northeast Ohio Healthcare System is recruiting for Medical Support Assistants (Advanced). The Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) will function in Patient Care Administrative Service (PCAS), Patient Transfer Center (PTC). In order to qualify for this position, you must meet the requirements below within 30 calendar days of the closing date listed on the announcement.

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.
• Education: Successful completion of a high school diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial level Board or Department of Education.

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).

All MSAs employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series, and grade held, [which] are [a] part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements required in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply:

• Such employees may be reassigned, promoted, or [changed to a lower grade] within the occupation.
• Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis, until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.
• If an employee who was converted to [Title] 38 hybrid status under this provision leaves the occupation, the employee loses protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation.

Grade Determinations

GS-06: Candidates at this grade must have one year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level. Examples of this experience include, but are not limited to: operating 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; knowledge of medical terminology specific to understand medical diagnosis and procedures sufficient to communicate clinical staff instructions to patients; scheduling medical appointments in a clinical setting; working independently in the accomplishment of a wide variety of duties performing patient support work; communicating effectively and professionally in person, electronically, and/or by telephone, with internal and external customers; and providing customer service and identifying customer concerns and referring to the appropriate staff, as necessary, to ensure a satisfactory resolution.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• 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.
• Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations.
• 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
• 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.
• 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.
• Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinic.

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

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