Advanced Medical Support Assistant

01Basic 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. 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.

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). 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. Physical 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). 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). Creditable Experience.

To be creditable, the experience must have required the use of 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 or non-paid employment as an MSA or an equivalent position in a non-VA hospital or clinic setting. Part-Time Experience. Part-time experience is creditable according to its relationship to a full-time workweek.

For example, an individual employed 20 hours per week, or on a half-time basis, would receive credit for 1 full-time workweek for each 2 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 of the position being filled.

For all assignments above the full performance level (FPL), the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity, 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.

02Grade Determinations

In addition to the basic requirements for employment, candidates must meet the following grade-determining criteria for placement at grade levels specified. Medical Support Assistant (Advanced), GS-06. Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade. Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs).

In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: 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.

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. Assignment.

For all assignments above the FPL, the higher-level duties must be of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity, 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. At the advanced level, the Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) (AMSA) performs difficult and responsible 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. Recommend 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).

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS06.

03Physical Requirements

The work is administrative which requires standing, walking, sitting, stooping, bending, lifting light objects, answering telephone, and data entry into VISTA; and other supportive software for the scheduling and intake processes.

VA Careers - Medical Support Assistant: https://youtube.com/embed/EE9c4XkaELo Duties include but are not limited to: The Advanced MSA works collaboratively in interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery models and performs customer service and other duties assigned for the proper and timely treatment of patients and maintains appointment schedules for one or more outpatient clinics. Incumbent performs higher level duties at least 25% of the time.

He/she must assist with clinic access contingency plans by adjusting appointment times, location, or dates as well as shift patients to other healthcare providers as conflict with staffing and/or coverage occurs. Incumbent must screen/receive phone calls in a courteous and timely manner, determine the nature of requests and provide the information desired using privacy rules and established clinic processes.

A caring, compassionate, and sensitive manner is essential when explaining procedures to veterans and their family members both in person and on the phone. The Advanced MSA can independently manage position responsibilities with little supervision as well as set priorities and deadlines adjusting the flow and sequencing of the work to meet team and patient needs.

The Advanced MSA participates in the daily team huddles and weekly team meetings where patient care planning and management occur, as part of the interdisciplinary team delivering patient care. Incumbent develops and maintains effective working relationships with all clinical and administrative staff in determining priorities of activities in support of direct patient care.

Notifies his/her supervisor when clinic access is less than desirable or if an individual patient cannot be scheduled within mandated clinic timeframes. Daily review of active/pending consults, Recall list, Return to Clinic Orders, Consults, VetLink/Kiosk, Vetext reports, VAOS, and Audio-care communications for accuracy and disposition.

Coordinates administrative services for veterans, family members, caregivers, and general public, administrative and clinical staff to ensure continuity of inpatient and outpatient care. When records are received, the incumbent will ensure that all necessary health/administrative information are integrated into Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) by sending the documents to centralized scanning.

Interprets and applies a complex body of pertinent laws, regulations, directives, and policies that relate to the administration of VA Healthcare Benefits. The ability to distribute and balance the workload among employees in accordance with established workflow or job specialization, assures timely accomplishment of the assigned workload and assures that each employee has enough work to keep busy.

Work is performed under the general supervision of the Supervisory Medical Support Assistant; and is evaluated for appropriateness and conformance to policy. The supervisor will provide direction in terms of objectives, daily priorities, and deadlines. If the incumbent is assigned to Community Care, they are aligned to the Community Care Manager. Work is reviewed by the supervisor for the purpose of appropriateness and compliance with VHA, VBA, and HAS policies and procedures.

Incumbent's supervisor sets priorities but allows the employee to organize recurring activities. Completed assignments are evaluated for technical soundness, usefulness, and conformance with VA requirements. Work Schedule: Full-Time- Monday-Friday 2:00pm to 10:30pm Telework: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

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: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 25365-F Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized.