Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

Summary

This Advanced Medical Support Assistant (AMSA) is assigned to a Veteran's Affairs Community Care (VACC). The AMSA works collaboratively in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model; patient aligned community care team. Work involves specialized administrative judgment and the flexible use of a wide range of clinical flow processes relating to access to care across multiple Community Care clinics, specialties, and/or care community resources.

Learn more about this agency

Help

Overview

• Accepting applications

• Open & closing dates

09/12/2024 to 09/16/2024

• Salary

$52,505 - $68,258 per year

• Pay scale & grade

GS 6

• Help

Location

1 vacancy in the following location:

• Minneapolis, MN

• Remote job

No

• Telework eligible

Yes-as determined by the agency policy.

• Travel Required

Not required

• Relocation expenses reimbursed

No

• Appointment type

Permanent

• Work schedule

Full-time

• Service

Excepted

• Promotion potential

None

• Job family (Series)

• 0679 Medical Support Assistance

• Supervisory status

No

• Security clearance

Not Required

• Drug test

No

• Position sensitivity and risk

Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk

• Trust determination process

• Credentialing

• Suitability/Fitness

• Financial disclosure

No

• Bargaining unit status

Yes

• Announcement number

CBCT-12531578-24-KB

• Control number

809084600

Help

This job is open to

• The public

U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.

Clarification from the agency

All qualified candidates encouraged to apply. Open to U.S. Citizens, but non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens. If you are a current permanent VA Nationwide employee or federal employee from other agencies, you should apply under the internal announcement CBCT-12531574-24-KB

Videos

Help

Duties

The Advanced Medical Support Assistant provides specialized and expert administrative patient support.

• Coordinates with the patient community care team to review the clinic utilization by using various reports (Community Care Dashboard, consult toolbox)

• Utilizes numerous advanced patient systems in support of multiple Community Care and VA clinics involved in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model

• Coordinates with patient care team to review appointment availability in the community

• Participates in team huddles and meetings to manage and plan patient care; setting priorities and deadlines, adjusting flow and sequencing of work to meet team and patient needs

• Communicate with non-VA medical facilities; facilitate and process secure messaging with the patient and team

• Utilizes numerous advanced patient systems in support of Community Care and VA clinics involved in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model

• Screen/receive phone calls in a courteous and timely manner, determine the nature of requests and provide the information desired using privacy rules established by VACC processes and HIPPA

• Determine eligibility for care and enroll, if needed

• Create referrals/authorizations for episodes of care prior to care being received, and applying an appropriate cost for obligation management if appropriate, confirming authorized services and validity dates

• Work with VACC contractors, vendors/agencies to ensure timely appropriate care is provided for Veterans

• Schedule appointments per the scheduling policy accurately and in a timely manner

• Daily review of active/pending/scheduled consults for accuracy and disposition

• Follow-up for medical documentation once appointments have occurred

• Ensure medical documentation is scanned to chart for timely consult closure and ongoing care needs are met

• Manage communication, to include but not limited to the phone lines/voicemails/inbound faxes in a timely and appropriate manner

• Manage/use all programs associated with VACC (e.g., computerized medical record, VASO, SharePoints, VSE, Refdocs, Right fax, FBCS, HRSM, PPMS, VISTA and use of portals and databases)

• Manage hospital notifications, portal notifications, billing questions and suspended claims

• Manage consults with local and National contracts

Total Rewards Medical Support Assistant: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-MSA-VA-Career-Flyer.pdf

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm

Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases when setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of existing pay, 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.

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: Authorized

Virtual: This is not a virtual position

Functional Statement #: 000000

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Help

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.

• 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

Applicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.

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

• Experience: Six months experience of clerical, office or other work that indicates the ability to acquire the particular knowledge and skills needed to perform the duties of the position; OR

• Education: One year above high school; OR

• Experience/Education Combination: Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable.

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.

Grade Determinations:

GS-06 Grade Level:One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level GS-5 Medical Support Assistant grade level. Duties at this level include, but are not limited 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; Advanced knowledge of medical terminology specific to understand medical diagnosis and procedures sufficient to communicate clinical staff instructions to patients; Schedule medical appointments in a clinical setting; Work independently in the accomplishment of a wide variety of duties performing patient support work; Communicate effectively and professionally in person, electronically, and/or by telephone, with internal and external customers; Customer service with the ability to identify customer concerns, and refer to the appropriate staff, as necessary, to ensure a satisfactory resolution.

AND

Demonstrates Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. Candidates must demonstrate the KSAs below:

• 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.

Note: You must provide detailed information of your experience performed. Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hour worked per week .

Preferred Experience: Type 30-40 words per minute

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. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of to GS-06.

Physical Requirements: Advanced Medical Support Assistant must be able to operate a computer terminal and be able to manage multiple activities at one time. Work is generally sedentary; however, there may be some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of light items.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on 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.

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.

Read more

• Benefits

Help

A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package. As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding. Opens in a new window

Learn more about federal benefits.

Review our benefits

Eligibility for benefits depends on the type of position you hold and whether your position is full-time, part-time or intermittent. Contact the hiring agency for more information on the specific benefits offered.

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.