Adv Med Support Assistant

Summary

The Advanced Medical Support Assistant (AMSA) is part of a PACT Care Team or specialty care setting - typically composed of clinical and administrative professionals. The AMSA provides essential clerical and administrative support to patients and staff - including scheduling appointments by interpreting and verifying provider orders per VHA guidelines.

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
• Experience: Must have six (6) months experience of clerical - office - customer service - or other administrative work that indicates the ability to acquire the particular knowledge and skills needed to perform the duties of the position
• OR - Education: Have one (1) year of education above high school
• OR - Combination of experience and education: Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable
• Grade DeterminationsGS-6 Experience: In addition to meeting the basic requirements - you must also have one year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 level
• The specialized experience for this position includes the following - but not limited to: Performing a full range of duties related to the delivery of healthcare services in an inpatient or outpatient setting - advises clinical staff on administrative processes - scheduling appointments - monitoring appointment requests from multiple electronic sources - verifying and updating demographics and insurance information - and coordinating administrative functions
• Knowledge - Skills - and Abilities
• At this level - candidates must also demonstrate the following Knowledge - Skills - and Abilities (KSAs): (Candidates must demonstrate all KSA's at this level.) 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 clinicians
• References: VA Handbook 5005/117 - Part II - Appendix G-45 - Medical Support Assistant Qualification Standards - GS-0679 - Veterans Health Administration
• The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-06 Physical Requirements: The position involves work that is mainly sedentary but requires some bending - walking - standing and lifting/carrying (under 15 LB) of supplies - patient records - staff and patient mail
• Some assignments may involve more frequent walking - but these assignments require no unusual physical demands to perform work
• The incumbent will need to have the ability to verbally communicate and hear (aid is permitted) using a telephone and also must be able to type and operate computer equipment as an essential part of their position.
  
  

Duties

• The Advanced Medical support duties are: Customer service is essential in this role
• Performs all administrative duties assigned for the proper and timely treatment of patients and maintains appointment schedules for one or more outpatient clinics
• He/she must assist with clinic access contingency plans by adjusting appointment times - location - or dates as well as shift patients to other healthcare providers as conflict with staffing and/or coverage occurs
• Supports patient safety standards using the correct Veterans Affairs identification of all patients using the approved protocols of patient identifiers
• The patient may also present the Veterans Identification Card (VIC) for identification
• He/she must use each interaction with the patient to validate and update patient demographic information - either in person during check-in or over the phone - to decrease the incidence of returned mail due to incorrect addresses and inability to contact patient by phone due to incorrect number
• Incumbent will ensure that all necessary health/administrative information are integrated into Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) by sending the documents to scanning
• Incumbent must be able to interpret and communicate requirements of VHA Scheduling Directives and complete accurate scheduling responsibilities: Schedule appointments and utilize the Electronic Waiting List accurately in a timely manner
• All appointments will be made with the patient's input - either in person or by phone
• This may require a high level of coordination to avoid patients having to make multiple trips to the medical center or clinic whenever possible
• Evaluate patient information and clinic schedule lists to determine whether patient is vested
• Is astute to co-managed patients and brings attention to the provider of these shared patients
• Notifies his/her supervisor when clinic access is less than desirable or if an individual patient cannot be scheduled within mandated clinic timeframes
• Daily review of active/pending consults - Electronic Wait List - Recall list and Audiocare communications for accuracy and disposition
• Independently manage position responsibilities with little supervision as well as set priorities and deadlines adjusting the flow and sequencing of the work to meet team and patient needs
• Provide input for problem solving in team meetings
• Between visits tasks may include telephone or secure messaging follow-up to see how the patient is doing - reinforcing the plan of care and encouraging self-help solutions
• The pivotal part of the PACT Team is they monitor pre-appointment requirements to assure readiness for patient visit/procedure (e.g. - x-ray - lab work)
• Identifies incomplete encounter information and communicating findings to providers to facilitate accurate workload credit and revenue collection
• Explains VA's mandate to collect insurance information to veterans
• He/she collects - scans - and updates health insurance information serving a major role in the revenue process
• The incumbent contributes to the revenue collection process by identifying patients with third party insurance
• Performs receptionist duties - customer service and other duties assigned for the proper and timely treatment of patients and maintains appointment schedules for one or more outpatient clinics
• Assists with clinic access contingency plans by adjusting appointment times - location - or dates as well as shift patients to other healthcare providers as conflict with staffing and/or coverage occurs
• Incumbent utilizes various reports from the MSA Supervisor - i.e
• Clinic Utilization Statistical Summary - to ensure clinic setup is closely monitored to effectively support the needs of the clinic
• The MSA Supervisor accepts recommendations for clinic adjustments by the Advanced MSA
• Panel Management is an important function within the teamlet and is the responsibility of the Medical Support Assistant
• The MSA uses various VHA databases (eg PCMM - Clinical Reminder Reports - VSSC - Proclarity - Wait times - patient satisfaction - etc.) to extract categorize - and collate specific patient/provider metrics required to manage the chronic and preventive health care needs of the panel
• Develops and maintains specific reports used by the team to monitor - track and trend care delivery as well as participating/leading quality improvement efforts focused on cost - access - quality and satisfaction
• A critical role performed is the Patient Health Coach
• Health coaching supports the VHA Patient Centered Medical Home model by improving patient experience and enhancing patient self-management skills by expanding face-to-face and non face-to-face encounters conducted by the MSA
• These encounters involve working with patients prior to a face-to-face visit - post-visit follow-up and between visits
• Work Schedule: 7:30 am - 4:00 pm Telework: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #: 52850-A Financial Disclosure Report: Not required