Medical Support Assistant

The incumbent serves as Medical Support Assistant (MSA) in Health Administration Service (HAS) at the San Diego VA Healthcare System. HAS has a large number of MSA positions and incumbents may be required to serve in Specialty Clinics. An MSA performs duties to include scheduling patient appointments, tracking, reviewing, and responding to electronic orders, consults, and other elements in the electronic medical record and medical systems.

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:

• Citizenship: Be a citizen of the United States. Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• English Language Proficiency. MSAs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).
• Experience and Education.
  • (1) Experience. None
  • (2) Education. High school diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education.

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 Requirements:

• GS-3: Experience: None, beyond basic requirements.
• Education: None, beyond basic requirements.
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• GS-04: In addition to the Basic Requirements for employment listed above, the candidates must posses at least one (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-03 grade level.
• Experience: One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade,; Or;
• Education: One year of education above high school; Or;
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to the experience or education above, candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs below:
  • Knowledge of basic medical terminology to assist in the provision of care to patients.
  • Skill in recording patient messages and understanding physician requests pertaining to follow-up medical care in internal or external clinics.
  • Ability to meet, communicate, and interact with individuals from varying backgrounds and other health care team members in a courteous and helpful manner in order to facilitate medical care for patients.
  • Ability to use, and navigate between, various types of office automation equipment and software (i.e. computer systems, web based scheduling programs; insurance collection system; scanning software, multiple line phone systems; electronic faxing programs) to support patient care.
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• GS 05 (Full Performance Level): In addition to meeting the Basic Requirements, candidates must possess one (1) year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level GS-4 Grade Level.
  • Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade; OR,
  • Education. Two years of education above high school. AND,
  • Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience or education above, candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs below:
    • Advanced knowledge of medical terminology specific to understand medical diagnosis and procedures sufficient to communicate clinical staff instructions to patients.
    • Skill in customer service with the ability to identify customer concerns, and refer to the appropriate staff, as necessary, to ensure a satisfactory resolution.
    • Ability to 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.
    • Ability to schedule medical appointments in a clinical setting.
    • Ability to work independently in the accomplishment of a wide variety of duties performing patient support work.
    • Ability to communicate effectively and professionally in person, electronically, and/or by telephone, with internal and external customers.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS 05. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS 03 to GS 05.

Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary with prolonged periods of sitting. The work requires moderate lifting, carrying, pushing, standing; reaching above shoulder; use of fingers; ability to read without strain; ability to hear the whispered voice with or without hearing aid; emotional & mental stability.

Responsibilities:

Duties include but are not limited to:

• Independently performs a full range of duties related to the delivery of healthcare services in an inpatient or outpatient setting
• Advises clinical staff on current administrative processes
• Responsible for answering phones, greeting patients, relaying messages to appropriate staff inside or outside of the unit
• Scheduling appointments, including interpreting and verifying provider orders in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines
• Scheduling, canceling, re-scheduling patient appointments and/or consults
• Entering no-show information
• Medication refills
• Interacting with internal and external customers to achieve desired outcomes
• Monitoring appointment requests from multiple electronic sources
• Participating in huddles with other MSAs and/or clinic staff to determine the daily needs of the clinic
• Monitoring both inpatient and outpatient appointments in areas of responsibility
• Verifying and updating demographics and insurance information when patients check-in for appointments
• Receiving and distributing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) messages
• Coordinating administrative functions relating to emergency and non-emergency transfers to other VA facilities or private hospitals and determines appointment type based on the patient's eligibility status (i.e., TRICARE, sharing agreements, collaterals, research patient, VA employee, etc.).
• Ensuring clinicians complete encounter forms to obtain workload credit
• Review active/pending consults and recall list for accuracy, and disposition daily
• Other duties as assigned

VA Careers - Medical Support Assistant: https://youtube.com/embed/EE9c4XkaELo

Work Schedule: Day Shift - Will be discussed in interview.
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 #: 000000
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Salary : $417