Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

Full Job Description

The incumbent serves as an Advanced Medical Support Assistant (AMSA) in a VISN Clinical Contact Center (CCC) as part of an interprofessional healthcare team.

AMSA provides support across multiple ancillary and interprofessional clinics and determines the needs of the Veteran/ caregiver.

The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this occupational series. For more information, refer to Required Documents below. Basic Requirements: Citizenship. Citizen of the United States.

(Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, paragraph 3.g.). Experience and Education.

Experience.

Six months experience of 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 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. Certification. None required. Grandfathering Provision.

All MSAs employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series, and grade held, which are a part of the basic requirements of the occupation.

(Additional Information under Education section) Foreign Education. To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S.

must have been submitted to a private organization that specializes in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education must have been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S.

programs. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook. English Language Proficiency.

MSAs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, paragraph 3.j GRADE REQUIREMENTS.

Creditable Experience Knowledge of MSA Practices.

To be creditable, the experience must have demonstrated the 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/non-paid employment as an MSA or an equivalent position in a non-VA hospital or clinic setting. 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.

Part-Time Experience.

Part-time experience as an MSA or equivalent administrative patient support in a non-VA medical inpatient or outpatient setting] is creditable according to its relationship to the full-time workweek.

For example, an MSA employed 20 hours a week, or on a 1/2-time basis, would receive one full-time workweek of credit for each two weeks of service.

Grade Determinations: Medical Support Assistant (Advanced), GS-6 Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level.

Examples of specialized experience include but are not limited to: Advises clinical staff on current administrative processes, answering 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 scheduling guidelines, scheduling, canceling, re-scheduling patient appointments and/or consults; entering no-show information; monitoring appointment requests from multiple electronic sources, participating in huddles with other MSAs and/or clinic staff to determine the daily needs of the clinic, monitoring both inpatient and outpatient appointments, verifying and updating demographics and insurance information.

Assignment. The Advanced MSA provides 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.

Recommends 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 preappointment 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).

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. Candidates must demonstrate [all of] the KSAs below: i.

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.

ii. Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations. iii.

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. iv.

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.

v.

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.

vi. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians.

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 Major Duties:

DUTIES: The Advanced MSA provides specialized and expert administrative patient support while working collaboratively in an interprofessional 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.

Works collaboratively with VISN programs, services, and interprofessional coordinated care team members to provide access to care and meet the needs of Veterans via various available contact modalities to include but not limited to telephone calls, secure messaging, chat, text messaging and video.

The AMSA is responsible for answering telephones, secure messages and chat messages, greeting patients, relaying messages to appropriate staff inside or outside of the VISN CCC, scheduling appointments, interpreting and verifying provider orders in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines.

Recommends 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 interprofessional coordinated care delivery model.

AMSAs at this level develop and/or maintain effective and efficient communication with the patient, interprofessional care delivery teams, VA medical centers, and other agencies; communicate with non-VA medical facilities.

Scheduling, canceling, re[1]scheduling patient appointments and/or consults; entering no-show information; monitoring appointment requests from multiple electronic sources; gathering and obtaining medical information from patients; processing medication refill requests; reviewing electronic health record, obtaining medical records, faxing, participating in huddles with other MSAs and/or VISN CCC staff to determine the daily needs of the VISN CCC, monitoring outpatient appointments in areas of responsibility; and verifying and updating demographics when contacted by patients.

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 interprofessional team members about shared patients (i.e.)., those who receive their care at multiple VA centers or those who receive care in the community.

Provides information and resolution to Veterans' requests within scope, uses administrative judgement to escalate symptomatic concerns to clinicians within the VISN CCC or directs the contact to the appropriate discipline within the CCC or department for resolution.

Screens incoming contacts and independently routes the contacts to the appropriate area for resolution.

Uses advanced knowledge of health care process as it relates to access of care to ensure Veteran appointment scheduling is efficient, operational and prioritized to maintain Veteran flow and clinic readiness.

Utilizes various software, hardware system products, and data portals to transfer and capture information electronically for the support of the daily operation of the unit.

Operates within the various contact modalities to receive and respond to incoming and outgoing contacts using computerized interfaces and telecommunications hardware and software.

Provides accurate details of organizational information to Veterans regarding the different services the VA offers. Provides high-quality customer service to Veterans and their families/caregivers.

Communicates tactfully and effectively to challenging customers who may be threatening, abusive, or distraught. Resolves Veteran complaints as appropriate.

Performs duties as assigned to ensure efficient and effective operations. Other related duties may be assigned.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm/Monday - Friday, 1130am-8pm Telework: Not Applicable. This is a remote position. Remote: Yes - This position is eligible for Remote/Virtual work.

This position is remote work eligible and is exempted from return to office requirements. However, this does not mean that remote work status will be permanent.

The eligibility of the position and employee for remote work will be reviewed (at least) annually. Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 26278-F VA Careers - Medical Support Assistant: https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/EE9c4XkaELo Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional "Whole Health is an approach to health care that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their life to the fullest.

The VA is committed to Whole Health and values Veteran and Employee health and wellbeing.

As a VA employee, you will practice Whole Health in an environment that supports personalized and proactive care."