Advanced Medical Support Assistant - Community Care

Summary

The Advanced MSA works in the VA Community Care department and provides administrative patient support to coordinate patient care appointments and create authorization of payment by VA for services received through community network providers, 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.

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Duties

ROLE RESPONSIBILITIES AND ACCOUNTABILITIES BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE FOLLOWING:

• Works collaboratively in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model system.
• Screens new community care consults for eligibility and duplication.
• Communicates with community providers to ensure they accept VA patients and payments.
• Compiles and sends applicable pre-appointment clinical referral documentation.
• Schedules and documents appointments in the established electronic scheduling program.
• Requests medical documentation from community providers.
• Scans/indexes documents directly or routes documentation to the appropriate department to scan/index clinical documentation to the appropriate consult/progress note following VA policy/directives and VA Office of Community Care procedures and guidelines.
• Schedules Veteran appointments with community providers using electronic scheduling software.
• Uses established business rules to schedule appointments for Veterans which includes clinic visits and consultations.
• Complies with the mandatory training requirements for the outpatient scheduling processes.
• Ensures all appointments are scheduled timely and the provider and patient's desired dates are met.
• Must be flexible and able to accomplish other duties as assigned.
• Routinely communicates with physicians, case managers, and other allied health professional staff using sound interpersonal skills and remains consistently aware of sensitive information.
• Performance is judged in terms of overall effectiveness of the operation, the adequacy and accuracy of the work, timeliness, and conformance to established procedures, policies, and instructions.
• Supervision is generally based on direct observations, review of overall results on daily scheduling reports and standards of performance, as well as feedback from the departmental team to ensure mission is carried out.
  
  

Work Schedule: Tour of Duty 8:00 am- 4:30pm. Monday thru Friday.

Compressed/Flexible:Not Authorized

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized

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Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• You may be required to serve a probationary period.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Participation in the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination program is a requirement for all Veterans Health Administration Health Care Personnel (HCP) - See "Additional Information" below for details.
  
  

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

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  United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• (1) Experience. 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
• (2) Education. One year above high school; (transcript required) OR
• (3) Experience/Education Combination. (transcript required) Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable. 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).
  
  

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 Determinations:

In addition to the basic requirements as stated above you must meet the criteria listed below.

• Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level.GS5 Knowledge Skills and Abilities:
• Ability to operate computerized programs and systems in order to enter, modify and retrieve sensitive [medical and patient identifying] information into or from electronic health records, scheduling systems, and/or reports.
  
  

ii. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology specific to understand medical diagnosis and procedures sufficient to communicate clinical staff instructions to patients.

iii. Ability to schedule medical appointments in a clinical setting.

iv. 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.vi. Skill in customer service with the ability to identify customer concerns, and refer to the appropriate staff, as necessary, to ensure a satisfactory resolution.
  
  

AND

• Demonstrate the following knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) below: GS 06 Knowledge, skills, and abilities:
• 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.
  
  

ii. Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations.

iii. 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.

iv. 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.
  
  

vi. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians.



Preferred Experience: 2 years of administrative support/appointment scheduling experience in a healthcare/clinic setting. Extensive experience with electronic data entry programs. Exceptional customer service skills.



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



Physical Requirements: The work is primary sedentary in an office setting, including long hours of sitting, computer keyboarding, and use of the telephone. Typically, the Advanced MSA sits comfortably to do the work; however, there may be some walking, standing, bending, carrying of light items, etc. No special physical demands are required to perform the work.

Education



Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Additional information

Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel (HCP) are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.

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