Medical Support Assistant

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11:59 PM (ET) on11/09/2026 Citizenship: Citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance to 38 U.S.C. § 7407(a).

01Experience and Education

Experience: None. OR 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: 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.

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.

02Physical Requirements

See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements. English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

03Grade Determinations

Creditable Experience: To be creditable, the experience must have demonstrated the knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) associated with current MSA responsibilities or an equivalent administrative patient support role in a non-VA medical inpatient or outpatient setting. Experience satisfying this requirement may be paid/non-paid employment as an MSA or an equivalent position in a non-VA hospital or clinic setting.

Part-Time Experience: Part-time experience as an MSA or equivalent administrative patient support in a non-VA medical inpatient or outpatient setting is creditable according to its relationship for the full-time workweek. For example, an MSA employed 20 hours a week, or on a 1/2-time basis, would receive one full-time workweek of credit for each two weeks of service.

Quality of Experience: Qualifying experience must be at a level comparable to MSA experience or equivalent administrative clinical support role in a non-VA medical inpatient or outpatient setting at the next lower grade level.

For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity (difficulty), and range of varieties as described in this standard, at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. In addition to meeting the Basic Requirements, candidates must possess the required specialized experience and be able to demonstrate all Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs) as summarized below.

GS-3 Grade Experience or Education (Entry Level): None beyond the basic requirements. GS-4 Grade Experience (Developmental Level): One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade.; OR Education: One year of education above high school. AND Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): Candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs below: Knowledge of basic medical terminology to assist in the provision of care to patients.

Skill in recording patient messages and understanding physician requests pertaining to follow-up medical care in internal or external clinics. Ability to meet, communicate, and interact with individuals from varying backgrounds and other health care team members in a courteous and helpful manner in order to facilitate medical care for patients.

Ability to use, and navigate between, various types of office automation equipment and software (i.e., computer systems, web-based scheduling programs; insurance collection system; scanning software, multiple line phone systems; electronic faxing programs) to support patient care. GS-5 Grade Experience (Full Performance Level): One year of experience equivalent to the GS-4 grade level; OR, Education: Two years of education above high school.

AND Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): Candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs below: Advanced knowledge of medical terminology specific to understand medical diagnosis and procedures sufficient to communicate clinical staff instructions to patients. Skill in customer service with the ability to identify customer concerns, and refer to the appropriate staff, as necessary, to ensure a satisfactory resolution.

Ability to operate computerized programs and systems in order to enter, modify, and retrieve sensitive medical and patient identifying information (PII) into or from electronic health records, scheduling systems, and/or reports. 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. References: See Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO) website for VA specific qualification standards: VA Qualification Standards - Office of the Chief Human Capital Officer (OCHCO).

04Preferred Experience

One year of experience working in a medical or clinic setting, scheduling appointments, referring patients to specialty clinics, collecting insurance documentation, documentation in electronic health records, and advanced medical terminology 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-05.

The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-03 to GS-05.

VA Careers - Medical Support Assistant: https://youtube.com/embed/EE9c4XkaELo Major duties include (but not limited to): -Performs scheduling functions for Orthotic and Prosthetics Consults, Prosthetics requests and Return to Clinic Orders following all rules and regulations. -Initiates and carries out a variety of clerical duties associated with patient care and treatment at multiple Prosthetic and Sensory Aid Service (PSAS) areas as it relates to scheduling. -Answers a multitude of telephone calls and records messages pertaining to such tings as detailed Prosthetic Consult requests and recognize urgent issues that require referral to the professional staff for immediate action. -Provides front-line assistance to customers with questions or concerns. -Helps facilitate refill requests for patients in person or calling in. -Arranges and schedules appointments for patients at a variety of locations, services and consultants on the Prosthetics request process, coordinate appointments for timeliness and to avoid conflicts in patient treatment and to meet the schedule of the PSAS. -Manages the daily appointment list which requires scheduling, cancelling and processing no-show appointments. -Orients new PSAS staff members to such things as location of the patient files, formatting of CPRS, VISTA, and Visual Aid.Retrieves and inputs pertinent data into our VISTA, CPRS programs, maneuvers and retrieves medical documentation from the VISTA Capture/Display Program and is knowledgeable with Remote Data and is able to retrieve appropriate data requested. -Participates in team huddles/meetings in order to manage and plan patient care -Maintains office supplies for the clinics, printer and/or copy machines, sorting mail and distributing fax communications, -Other duties as determined by supervisor.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday; Schedule Varies (0700-1530, 0730-1600, 0800-1630) Telework: Ad-hoc (Not on reoccurring basis) Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized