Advanced Medical Support Assistant

Summary

The Advance Medical Support Assistance (AMSA) is a position located in the Health Administration Service (HAS) of VA New Jersey Healthcare System (VANJHS) Tom's River clinic. The VANJHS is an integrated level 1C system comprising of two (comprehensive healthcare) facilities in East Orange and Lyons - and eleven Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) located throughout the state.

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

• To qualify for appointment to this position - all applicants must possess the following: Citizenship
• Be a citizen of the United States (U.S.)
• Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens according to 38 U.S.C.
• 7407(a)
• 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
• Licensure/Certification/Registration
• None
• Grandfathering Provision
• Employees in VHA in this occupation - under a permanent - appropriate - and legal placement on the effective date of the qualification standard - are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the grade and/or assignment held - including positive education and registration/certification where applicable
• For employees who do not meet all the basic or assignment-specific requirements in this standard but met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed - the following provisions apply: (1) 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
• (2) Employees retained in this occupation under this provision who subsequently leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation
• NOTE: This provision is not intended to regularize appointments/ placements
• Foreign Education
• To be creditable - education completed outside the U.S. must be deemed at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. program by a private organization specializing in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials Grade Determinations: Advanced Medical Support Assistant GS-6 Experience
• One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level - performing duties including but not limited to: providing specialized and expert administrative patient support
• specialized administrative judgment and the flexible use of a wide range of clinical flow processes relating to access to care across multiple clinics - specialties - and/or care in the community resources
• recommending changes to existing clinic procedures based on current administrative guidelines
• utilizing numerous advanced patient systems in support of multiple clinics
• coordinating with the patient care team to review clinic appointment availability - monitor clinic schedule & adjust as necessary
• develop and/or maintain effective and efficient communication with the patient
• assist with communications during the inpatient to outpatient discharge
• communicate with non-VA medical facilities
• prepare correspondence
• manage a system for follow-up care such as consults - tests - EKG - etc
• AND Demonstrated Knowledge - Skills - and Abilities
• Candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs below: 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
• Assignment
• The Advanced MSA provides specialized and expert administrative patient support while working collaboratively in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model
• Work involves specialized administrative judgment and the flexible use of a wide range of clinical flow processes relating to access to care across multiple clinics - specialties - and/or care in the community resources
• Recommends changes to existing clinic procedures based on current administrative guidelines
• Expertise in utilizing numerous advanced patient systems in support of multiple clinics involved in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model
• Coordinates with the patient care team to review clinic appointment availability (utilization) to ensure that clinic schedules are closely monitored to effectively support the needs of the clinics - and makes adjustments as necessary
• MSAs at this level develop and/or maintain effective and efficient communication with the patient - interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model teams - VA medical centers - and other agencies (e.g. - assist with communications during the inpatient to outpatient discharge
• communicate with non-VA medical facilities
• [prepare correspondence to notify patients of normal lab results
• manage a system for follow-up care such as consults - tests - etc.)
• Other assignments at this level include - but are not limited to: processes incoming patient secure messaging through MyHealthyVet and coordinates with care team as appropriate
• participates in team huddles and team meetings to manage - plan - problem solve - and follow-up with patient care by sharing information and collaborating with the interdisciplinary team
• setting priorities and deadlines - adjusting the flow and sequencing of the work to meet team and patient needs
• identifies incomplete encounters and communicates findings to providers
• as needed
• assists the team to reinforce the plan of care and self-help solutions
• enters appropriate information into the electronic record
• monitors pre-appointment information and/or requirements to assure readiness for patient visit/procedure
• manages patient systems to verify and validate accuracy and resolve issues
• evaluates patient information and clinic schedule lists to determine whether the patient requires an immediate appointment
• informs team members about shared patients (i.e. - those who receive their care at multiple VA centers or those who receive care in the community)
• For all assignments above the full performance level - the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope - administrative independence - complexity (difficulty) - and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time? Reference: For more information on this qualification standard - please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/
• Preferred Experience: Administrative support in healthcare settings: Experience serving as an initial point of contact for outpatient & specialty clinics
• The full performance level of this vacancy is GS 6
• Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019
  
  

Duties

• Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Duties include but are not limited to: The Advanced Medical Support Assistant will provides cross coverage between East Orange and Lyons campus regardless of duty station assignment on record
• The Advance MSA participates in the daily team meetings where the group reviews individual patient requirements and formulates a plan for delivering the optimal level of care in the appropriate setting
• To this end - the incumbent supports the team by finding solutions within his/her scope of responsibility in order to resolve patient needs or expedite delivery of patient care
• As a member of the team - the Advance MSA has a collective responsibility with other team members for the ongoing care of all patients served by the team
• The incumbent will proactively engage with Veterans through multiple avenues to include MyHealtheVet (secure messaging) - VetLink - VAOS - recall system or in person
• Incumbent educates other members of the care team about scheduling protocol - including application of the Electronic Wait List (EWL) - NEAR List and MISSION Act timeliness requirements
• Incumbent provides information to and receives patients reporting for scheduled and unscheduled visits
• processes and directs patients in an expedient and efficient manner
• Incumbent is also required to administratively screen all Veterans to determine the nature of medical problems and provide administrative assistance as required
• Duties require frequent data input and processing functions in VISTA/VS GUI for admissions - discharges - follow-up and/or referral appointment - means test - ICB capture and other administrative processes
• The Advanced MSA coordinates with team members to review clinic utilization and ensures that the clinic setup is closely monitored to effectively support the needs of the clinic - making necessary adjustments as needed
• S/he develops/maintains effective and efficient communication with the patient - interdisciplinary team - VA medical centers - and other agencies
• S/he may be tasked with assisting with communications with staff inside and outside the facility
• communicating with non-VA medical facilities
• processing secure messaging requests from the patient to the team
• notifying patients of normal lab results
• developing and managing a tracking system for follow up care such as consults - tests - etc
• Other assignments at this level include - but are not limited to: participating in team huddles and team meetings to manage and plan patient care
• setting priorities and deadlines - adjusting the flow and sequencing of the work to meet team and patient needs
• may work with the team to reinforce the plan of care and self-help solutions and entering appropriate information into the electronic record
• monitoring pre-appointment requirements to assure readiness for patient visit/procedure (e.g. - X-ray - lab work)
• managing electronic wait list to verify and validate accuracy and resolve issues
• participating and providing input in problem solving on operational issues or procedures in team meetings - performing administrative follow up actions
• participating in and independently following up on team huddles by sharing information and collaborating with the medical team to assure continuity of care
• evaluating patient information and clinic schedule lists to determine whether patient is vested
• educating providers about share patients (those who receive their care at multiple VAs or those who have care in the community) and bringing to the attention of the provider
• AMSA will performs other duties as assigned
• Work Schedule: 8am - 4:30pm 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: No Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Functional Statement #: 21X72-A