Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

About the role

This position is located at the Lebanon VA Medical Center in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, and provides support to the Health Administration Service. Responsibilities include providing administrative assistance to physicians, physician assistants, advanced registered nurse practitioners, nurses, dietitians, social workers, and other administrative and professional staff throughout the Primary Care service area.

Responsibilities

• Answering phones, greeting patients, relaying messages to appropriate staff inside or outside of the unit
• Scheduling, canceling, re-scheduling patient appointments and/or consults, including interpreting and verifying provider orders in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines
• Entering no-show information
• Monitoring appointment requests from multiple electronic sources
• Verifying and updating demographics and insurance information when patients check-in for appointments
• Coordinating administrative functions relating to emergency and non-emergency transfers to other VA facilities or private hospitals and determining appointment type based on the patient's eligibility status (e.g., TRICARE, sharing agreements, collaterals, research patient, VA employee, etc.)
• Recommending changes to existing clinic procedures based on current administrative guidelines
• Coordinating 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 adjusting as necessary
• Developing and/or maintaining effective and efficient communication with the patient, interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model teams, VA medical centers, and other agencies
• Processing incoming patient secure messaging through MyHealthyVet and coordinating with care team as appropriate
• Participating 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
• Identifying incomplete encounters and communicating findings to providers as needed
• Entering appropriate information into the electronic record
• Monitoring pre-appointment information and/or requirements to assure readiness for patient visit/procedure
• Managing patient systems to verify and validate accuracy and resolve issues
• Evaluating patient information and clinic schedule lists to determine whether the patient requires an immediate appointment
• Informing team members about shared patients

Qualifications

Basic Requirements

• Citizenship: United States Citizenship required. Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Experience and Education: No experience required. High school diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education.
• English Language Proficiency: Medical Support Assistants must be proficient in spoken and written English.
• Certification: None required.
• Foreign Education: To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must have been submitted to a private organization that specializes in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education must have been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. programs.
• 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.

Grade Determinations — Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) GS-06

• Experience: One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level. Experience includes, but is not limited to: answering phones, greeting patients, relaying messages; scheduling, canceling, re-scheduling patient appointments and/or consults, including interpreting and verifying provider orders in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines; entering no-show information; 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; verifying and updating demographics and insurance information when patients check-in for appointments; coordinating administrative functions relating to emergency and non-emergency transfers to other VA facilities or private hospitals and determining appointment type based on the patient's eligibility status (i.e., TRICARE, sharing agreements, collaterals, research patient, VA employee, etc.).
• Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:
  • 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.

Preferred Experience

• Medical Scheduling

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-06.

Physical Requirements

Work is performed in an office setting and is primarily sedentary. May require lifting and carrying of light loads (e.g., files, records, etc.).

Schedule

• Work Schedule: Monday–Friday, 7:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m., or 7:30 a.m.–4:00 p.m., or 8:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.