Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

Summary

This position is located at the Cincinnati VA Medical Center. The Advanced Medical Support Assistant (A/MSA) provides specialized and essential technical support that enables physicians, physician assistants, nurses, nursing assistants, and other clinical staff to deliver high-quality patient care.

Duties

VA Careers - Medical Support Assistant: https://youtube.com/embed/EE9c4XkaELo Major Duties: Duties for the Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) include but are not limited to: - Provides specialized and expert administrative patient support within an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model, applying advanced administrative judgment to complex clinical flow processes. - Utilizes a wide range of clinical flow tools and patient systems to support access to care across multiple clinics, specialties, and community care resources. - Reviews clinic appointment availability to ensure schedules are closely monitored, adjusting clinic utilization as necessary to meet patient and clinic needs. - Communicates effectively with patients, interdisciplinary care teams, VA medical centers, and non-VA medical facilities; assists with coordination during inpatient-to-outpatient transitions and prepares correspondence such as normal lab result notifications. - Manages systems for follow-up care including consults, tests, appointment requests, and other required patient actions to maintain continuity of care. - Processes incoming secure messages through MyHealtheVet, coordinates responses with the care team, and participates in team huddles and meetings to support planning, problem solving, and follow-up patient care. - Identifies incomplete encounters, communicates findings to providers, reinforces plans of care, and enters required information into electronic health records. - Monitors and verifies pre-appointment requirements, validates patient information within patient systems, resolves accuracy issues, and determines whether immediate appointments are required; informs team members regarding shared-care patients across VA facilities or community care. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm. Other work schedules may be available depending on the needs of the agency. Telework: Not Available Functional Statement #: Multiple

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. 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. 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:(1) 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.(2) 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. f. 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. g. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements. h. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). And, Grade Determinations: Medical Support Assistant (Advanced), GS-06. (1) Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade. (2) Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: (a) 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. (b) 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. (c) Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians. (d) 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. (e) Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations. (f) 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. 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-6. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-6. Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary. The incumbent is required to sit for various lengths or time as well as some bending, walking, and lifting. Must be able to operate a computer terminal and be able to manage multiple activities at one time.

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/.