Supervisory Medical Support Assistant

Summary

The Supervisory Medical Support Assistant (MSA) has full responsibility for supervising administrative patient support staff in an outpatient or interdisciplinary setting. Mental Health provides medical administrative support to direct patient care throughout the VA Texas Valley Coastal Bend Health Care System (VATVCBHCS).

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Duties

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Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Assignments at this level include, but are not limited to the following:

• Responsible for implementing and maintaining Advanced Clinic Access principles.
• Stays abreast of clinic wait time issues, both length of time to appointment and actual time spent waiting for the provider.
• Functions as customer service leader in the clinic and trains staff on customer service principles.
• Assesses patient satisfaction on a periodic basis.
• Investigates and problem solves patient care issues to include patient complaints and congressional inquiries.
• Provides orientation to new medical support assistant staff concerning administrative functioning of the clinic.
• Trouble shoots information technology issues to include use of CPRS and VISTA Imaging and hardware issues.
• Manages clinic supplies and equipment by interfacing with SPD and Biomedical Engineering.
• Maintains physical plant of the clinic by ensuring cleanliness and functionality of surroundings.
• Discusses, investigates, and responds to employee grievances and dissatisfactions in order to resolve conflicts.
• Responsible for oral and written presentations at large staff meetings.-Provide ongoing training and assistance to new and incumbent personnel regarding office polies and procedures.
• Organizes and realigns the workforce to maximize productivity by reviewing clinical profiles and work ethics for maximum utilization of clinic capacity.
• Administer the internal review, quality, and productivity initiatives for the organization and generate required reports.
• Monitors no-shows to clinic and assists in appropriate disposition of such patients, monitors clinic functions for quality improvement opportunities, and anticipate needed changes based on data and recommends appropriate action or suggests appropriate alternatives.
• Daily monitoring of workload capture and view alerts (VA Alerts).
• Oversight to assists providers in completing encounters and clinical reminders.
• Daily monitoring of incoming consults to ensure timely and appropriate scheduling.
• Assists providers in the discharge of patients back to Primary Care as appropriate.
• Anticipates staff shortages and adjusts clinic schedule accordingly.

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

Recruitment Incentive (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 # : 53746-F

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 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

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.
• Education. High School diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from State or territorial-level Board of Department of Education.
• 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.
• 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 :

Medical Support Assistant, GS-07

Experience: One year of experience equivalent to the GS-6 grade level leading or supervising MSAs or equivalent administrative patient support staff in a non-VA medical inpatient, outpatient, or interdisciplinary setting.

• 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.
• 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.
• Ability to provide briefings, orientations, staff development, and training [in a patient support setting].
• Ability to manage fiscal matters, forecast resource and equipment needs, and identify budget needs.
• 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.

Preferred Experience:

• Knowledge in personnel management, organizational structuring and strategic planning
• Possess interpersonal skills to motivate direction to diverse staff and solve complex administrating problems
• Must be capable of functioning independently and making complex decisions
• Ability to use computer applications such as Microsoft Outlook, Power Point, Word, and excel

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

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-07.

Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. Some work may require movement between offices, hospitals, warehouses, and similar areas for meetings and to conduct work. Work may also require walking/standing, in conjunctions with travel to and attendance at meetings and/or conferences away from the work site. Incumbent may carry and lift light items weighing less than 15 pounds.

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:

NOTE: If your school has changed names, or is no longer in existence, you must provide this information in your application.

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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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.