Medical Support Assistant

Summary

The Pocatello Community Based Outpatient Clinic (part of the Salt Lake City VA Health Care System) is recruiting for Medical Support Assistant position in Health Administration Service. The Medical Support Assistant (MSA) position is located within Health Administrative Services (HAS) and will support greeting/customer service functions and telephone operations in the main facility.

Duties

VA Careers - Medical Support Assistant: https://youtube.com/embed/EE9c4XkaELo Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Duties for a Medical Support Assistant (MSA), at the full performance level of a GS-679-5 include: - Customer Service including receiving incoming telephone calls and routing to appropriate services- Greeting Veterans and directing them to appointment locations. - Checking patients in or out of appointments. - Scheduling, canceling, re-scheduling patient's appointments and/or consults. - Receiving and placing telephone calls, scanning and faxes.- Resolving simple to moderate problems. - Monitoring appointments for areas of responsibility. - Verifying and updating demographics and insurance information. - Performing basic eligibility, co-payments and preauthorization requirements for specific coverage. - Interfaces with personal computer applications as well as numerous VA specific applications such as VISTA, CPRS, VSE GUE and other scheduling related software - Creating, editing, and mailing correspondence that has not been pre-prepared using templated forms - Performs other assigned duties. Work Schedule: Full time; 8:00a.m to 16:30p.m Telework: Ad hoc 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) Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement: 52574A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized

Qualifications

Basic Requirements: a. Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States (U.S.). Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens b. Experience. None c. Education. High school diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education d. Licensure/Certification/Registration. Nonee 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. 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).Grade Determinations: Medical Support Assistant, GS-04. Experience or Education Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade; OR Education. One year of education above high school. AND Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs).In addition to the experience or education above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: (a) Knowledge of basic medical terminology to assist in the provision of care to patients. (b) Skill in recording patient messages and understanding physician requests pertaining to follow-up medical care in internal or external clinics. (c) 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. (d) 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. Assignment. This is a developmental level MSA position. It is expected that MSAs at this level will receive minor and less frequent guidance from higher experienced staff members for more difficult tasks. Assignments at this level include, but are not limited to: scheduling and rescheduling patients for treatment; interviewing patients for appointments; referring patients to other medical specialty clinics; providing information to patients necessary to resolve VA Handbook complaints; interacting with both internal and external customers; reviewing and documenting medical outpatient and inpatient electronic health records, as well as administrative records Medical Support Assistant, GS-05.Experience or Education. (a) Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade; OR (b) Education. Two years of education above high school. AND Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience or education above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: (a) Advanced knowledge of medical terminology specific to understand medical diagnosis and procedures sufficient to communicate clinical staff instructions to patients. (b) Skill in customer service with the ability to identify customer concerns, and refer to the appropriate staff, as necessary, to ensure a satisfactory resolution. (c) 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. (d) Ability to schedule medical appointments in a clinical setting.(e) Ability to work independently in the accomplishment of a wide variety of duties performing patient support work. (f) Ability to communicate effectively and professionally in person, electronically, and/or by telephone, with internal and external customers. Assignment. This is the full performance level for MSAs. At this level, the MSA indepen