Medical Support Assistant

About the role

Medical Support Assistants provide specialized and expert administrative patient support while working collaboratively in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model. The mission essential incumbent is responsible for assuring accurate, complete, and timely appointment management and the coordination of all administrative information between the professional staff and the patient. This includes updating and verifying demographic information, scheduling face-to-face, virtual, and non-traditional appointments, collecting insurance information, data entry and extraction, administratively managing consultation requests, clinical electronic waiting list, and notifying the patient or designee of scheduled appointments or changes in clinic scheduling. The incumbent provides essential administrative clinic management and scheduling support to Physicians, Physician's Assistants, Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners, Nurses, Dietitians, Social Workers, and other administrative and professional staff throughout the service area. Excellent customer service is required, adhering to VA local, National, and Service policies and procedures. A caring, compassionate, and sensitive manner is essential when explaining VA procedures to Veterans and family members.

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 and Education (one of the following):
  • Six 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
  • One year above high school; OR
  • Equivalent combination of experience and education qualifying for entry level.
• Foreign Education: Must have been submitted to a private organization specializing in interpretation of foreign educational credentials and deemed at least equivalent to conventional U.S. programs.
• English Language Proficiency: Must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, paragraph 3.j.
• Grandfathering Provision: All MSAs employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of the qualification standard (August 1, 2019) are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series, and grade held. Employees who do not meet all basic requirements but met qualifications applicable at time of appointment may be reassigned, promoted, or changed to lower grade within the occupation. Temporary appointees prior to the effective date may not have appointments extended or be reappointed until fully meeting basic requirements. Employees converted to Title 38 hybrid status who leave the occupation lose protected status and must meet full VA qualification standard requirements at time of reentry.

Grade Determination: Medical Support Assistant — GS-5 (Full Performance Level)

Candidates must meet either the experience or education requirement below, and demonstrate all KSAs listed.

• Experience: One year of experience equivalent to the GS-4 grade level, including but not limited to:
  • Scheduling and rescheduling patients for treatment
  • Interviewing patients for appointments
  • Referring patients to other medical specialty clinics
  • Providing information to patients necessary to resolve VA Handbook complaints
  • Interacting with both internal and external customers
  • Reviewing and documenting medical outpatient and inpatient electronic health records, as well as administrative records
  • Verifying third party insurance and updating information in the Insurance Capture Buffer (ICB) system
  • Obtaining medical information from patients
  • Coordinating information and actions related to patient care and services
  • Scheduling appointments in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines

  MSAs at this level refer all questions regarding medical attention to the appropriate health care team member.

• Education: Four years of education above high school.

Required KSAs (must demonstrate all):

• Ability to operate computerized programs and systems to enter, modify, and retrieve sensitive medical and patient identifying information (PII) into or from electronic health records, scheduling systems, and/or reports
• Advanced knowledge of medical terminology specific to understand medical diagnosis and procedures sufficient to communicate clinical staff instructions to patients
• 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
• Skill in customer service with the ability to identify customer concerns and refer to the appropriate staff, as necessary, to ensure a satisfactory resolution

Reference: August 1, 2019 VA HANDBOOK 5005/117 PART II APPENDIX G45

Physical Requirements

• Operate a computer terminal and manage multiple activities at one time
• Work is generally sedentary; however, there may be some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of light items

Work Environment

The work may be stressful due to the accelerated pace for several hours at a time during peak hours or on days that have a large volume of activity. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019. The incumbent must work in a multi-screen computer environment and be able to use VistA and Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) screens bilaterally (e.g., when a consult is received, the patient's information is displayed in VistA; the incumbent should be able to access CPRS on a separate screen, go to the consult, sign off on the electronic signature, and book the appointment). MSAs must assure that providers or techs have ordered labs and x-rays so the appropriate appointment may be made. MSA must be proficient in typing — possessing speed, accuracy, and proper grammar — due to the significant amount of documentation.

Responsibilities

• Greeting and establishing direct eye contact, being audible, choosing words well, and listening with respect to the Veteran, their family, or their designee
• Interacting with both internal and external customers
• Establishing and maintaining medical outpatient and inpatient charts as well as administrative records
• Verifying third party insurance and updating information in the Insurance Capture Buffer (ICB) system
• Accurately obtaining medical information from patients
• Coordinating information and actions related to patient care and services
• Scheduling appointments in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines
• Maintaining a high level of telephone communication skills (listening, interpreting, evaluating)

Schedule

Monday–Friday, 8:00 am–4:30 pm

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). Full performance level of this vacancy is GS-5.

Benefits

• Paid Time Off: 37–50 days of annual paid time off 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, and long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement).

Telework: Not Available. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized. Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized. Functional Statement #: 0000. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized.