Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) - Specialty Care

Full Job Description

The incumbent serves as an Advanced Medical Support Assistant in the Primary Care/Subspecialty Medicine service line at the Minneapolis VA Health Care System.

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, 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. 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. 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.

May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).

Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) GS-6 This position is above the full performance level for this job series and requires experience beyond the basic requirement for positions in this occupation.

You must meet the basic requirements and the following: REQUIRED EXPERIENCE: One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level that equips the candidate with the following: 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 Candidates must be able to demonstrate all of the Knowledge, Skills and Abilities 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 organizes 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.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is 6.

Physical Requirements: You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position.

Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination. Major Duties:

VA Careers - Medical Support Assistant: https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/EE9c4XkaELo Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Duties of this position are, but not limited to: Assists with clinic access contingency plans by adjusting appointment times, location, or dates as well as shift patients to other healthcare providers as conflict with staffing and/or coverage occurs.

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

Independently manage position responsibilities with little supervision as well as set priorities and deadlines adjusting the flow and sequencing of the work to meet team and patient needs.

Participates in the daily teamlet huddles and weekly team meetings where patient care planning and management occur, except during staff shortages for coverage.

Notifies his/her supervisor when clinic access is less than desirable or if an individual patient cannot be scheduled within mandated clinic timeframes.

Daily review of active/pending consults, EWL, Recall list and Audiocare communications for accuracy and disposition.

Requests records for continuity of care and when received, follow the Request of Information (ROI) process and ensure that all necessary health/administrative information are integrated into Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) by scanning the records into the patient's chart and/or sending them to the Scanning Department.

Interprets and applies a complex body of pertinent laws, regulations, directives, and policies that relate to the administration of VA Healthcare Benefits.

The ability to distribute and balance the workload among employees in accordance with established work flow or job specialization.

Knowledge to assume the role of a Program Support Assistant (Care Facilitator) or Medical Support Assistant (MSA) during special projects or heavy workload, for leave, vacancies, or when the Program Support Assistants (Care Facilitators) are detailed to fill-in other areas.

Generates patient workload reports for validation and monitors activity in clinical areas to assure consistent and accurate reporting.

Conducts special audits, studies, patient/employee surveys, interviews, observes workflow; guides patients through hospital system, inputs referrals, documents complaints, and provides follow-up and suggests resolutions to supervisor.

Incumbent must be able to interpret and communicate requirements of VHA Scheduling Directives and complete accurate scheduling responsibilities.

May need to assist in processing Veterans travel payment vouchers for the Beneficiary Travel Program and Health Benefits Unit.

Incumbent intervenes to resolve difficult problems and diffuses potential dissatisfaction with VA services in order to prevent congressional and adverse publicity.

Incumbent must completely understand and be able to explain complex regulations and eligibility criteria concerning veterans ' entitlements and VA benefits, priorities for care, access to care and advanced clinic access.

Ability to work in a busy environment, multi-task, lead, and organize a large group of staff in various work areas to produce results, ensure compliance, as well as process and follow-up on a very high volume of phone calls or written requests from patients inquiring about appointments or their status on the waiting list.

Additional duties or tasks may be assigned by the supervisor to ensure efficient daily operations. Work Schedule: Administrative Days 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) Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

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