Medical Support Assistant

Full Job Description

Incumbent serves as a Medical Support Assistant in the Patient Support Section of Health Administration Service in Lexington, Kentucky.

This assignment is at a two-divisional teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Kentucky (UK) Medical Center at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center, Lexington, KY.

Incumbent will be assigned to the Cooper or Leestown Division.

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: Be a citizen of the United States (U.S.). Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens according to 38 U.S.C.

§ 7407(a). Experience and/or Education requirement Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade; or Education.

One year above high school Licensure/Certification/Registration. None English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

Grade Determinations: GS-5 Medical Support Assistant (Full Performance Level) Experience: One year of experience equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-4 grade) which is experience in clerical, office, customer service or other administrative work that indicates the ability to acquire the particular knowledge and skills needed to perform the duties of the Medical Support Assistant (MSA) position.

Examples of experience 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; verifying third party insurance and updating information in the Insurance Capture Buffer (ICB) system; obtaining medical information from patients; coordinating information and actions related to patient care and services; and scheduling appointments in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines.

MSAs at this level refer all questions regarding medical attention to the appropriate health care team member.

Note: Qualifying experience must be at a level comparable to Medical Support Assistant experience or an equivalent administrative clinical support role in a non-VA medical inpatient or outpatient setting at the next lower grade level OR Education: Four years of education above high school AND Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities.

Candidates must demonstrate the KSAs below: 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.

Advanced knowledge of medical terminology specific to understand medical diagnosis and procedures sufficient to communicate clinical staff instructions to patients.

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.

Skill in customer service with the ability to identify customer concerns, and refer to the appropriate staff, as necessary, to ensure a satisfactory resolution.

Note: You must provide detailed information of your experience performed. Information such as "I was a Medical Support Assistant" is insufficient to determine your qualifications.

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.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is 05.

The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is 05.

Physical Requirements: The work is mainly sedentary but requires some bending, walking, standing and the carrying of such things as patient records, supplies and inter-office mail. Major Duties:

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Medical Support Assistant: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-MSA-VA-Career-Flyer.pdf Duties Include: Answer phones, greeting patients, relaying messages to appropriate staff inside or outside of the unit, scheduling appointments, including interpreting and verifying provider orders in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines Schedule, cancel, re-schedule patient appointments and/or consults Enter no-show information and monitor appointment requests from multiple electronic sources Participate in huddles with other MSAs and/or clinic staff to determine the daily needs of the clinic Monitor both inpatient and outpatient appointments in areas of responsibility Verify and update demographics and insurance information when patients check-in for appointments Coordinate administrative functions relating to emergency and non-emergency transfers to other VA facilities or private hospitals and determines appointment t-type based on the patient's eligibility status (i.e., TRICARE, sharing agreements, collaterals, research patient, VA employee, etc.) Serve as an initial point of contact for the units, clinics, patient, call centers, CitC, to include, but not limited to, scheduling patient appointments, tracking, reviewing, and responding to electronic orders, consults, and other elements in the electronic medical record and medical systems Utilize practical knowledge of computerized data entry, information processing systems and software related to patient care, the healthcare system's organization and services, basic rules and regulations governing visitors and patient treatment Apply, knowledge of standard procedures, utilizing medical records, and medical terminology Work Schedule: Various shifts to include days, evenings, nights, weekends, and holidays.

Schedule will be assigned upon selection.

Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not authorized Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases 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 #: 67942A Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized