Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)-Care in the Community

Full Job Description

The incumbent serves as an Advanced Medical Support Assistant (AMSA) in the Care in the Community (CITC) team.

The AMSA performs clerical and administrative support in the coordination, care, and treatment provided to veterans through the CITC referral processing procedures at VA Black Hills Health Care System, which includes the Community Based Outreach Clinics (CBOCs).

The position can be based out of either listed locations. ***KSA Recommendation - All qualifying experience you possess must be clearly described in your application package.

We will not make assumptions when reviewing applications. Failure to demonstrate your experience and knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) in your application may result in disqualification.

It is strongly recommended that you write to each KSA (found below) to demonstrate how you have gained each one in your application package or on a supplemental document*** 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].

Basic Requirements: 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. No experience required. 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 Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements.

See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements. English Language Proficiency.

Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

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:

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Major duties include, but are not limited to, the following: Provides specialized and expert administrative patient support while working collaboratively in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model.

Works closely with clinical personnel to ensure veterans receive timely referred and scheduled care in their local community.

This work involves specialized administrative judgment and the flexible use of a wide range of clinical flow processes relating to access to care across all disciplines and specialties through community care.

The AMSA recommends changes to existing clinic procedures based on current administrative guidelines.

Expertise in utilizing numerous advanced patient systems involved in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model.

Coordinates veteran appointments through community vendors utilizing guidance and direction from the veteran's care team to ensure appointments are scheduled accurately, efficiently and within the clinical needs requested by the provider.

Develop and/or maintain effective and efficient communication with the veteran, veteran representatives, interdisciplinary care teams, VA medical centers, and other agencies (e.g.

coordinating community care appointments and additional requests for care with non-VA medical facilities, administratively triaging phone calls related to community care requests, assisting other VA teams in understanding community care eligibilities in regards to the Mission Act of 2018, assisting CITC RN in care coordination of referrals, following up with community vendors to ensure appointment completion and obtaining of medical records).

Processes incoming veteran messages through message manager and care requests through my healthy vet, 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 interdisciplinary team; setting priorities and deadlines, adjusting the flow and sequencing of the work to meet team and patient needs; enters appropriate information into the electronic record; manages patient systems to verify and validate accuracy and resolve issues; evaluates and triages scheduling to meet recommendations by clinician in regards to urgency of the referrals.

Responsible for scheduling appointments, including interpreting and verifying provider orders in accordance with Community Care processes guidelines and directives.

Independently recognizes the urgency of the consults and schedules care in accordance.

Assignments include, but are not limited to: scheduling, rescheduling patient consults, and monitoring processes related to Community Care.

Accurately schedules the full spectrum of medical care including but is not limited to outpatient appointments, outpatient procedures, inpatient surgery, home care, lab tests and imaging throughout all specialties.

Communicate to the veteran any pre-appointment requirements or instructions. Clearly communicates appointment care details to the veteran or point of contact for veteran.

Communicates to the PACT Provider or Nurse if instructions are of nature that clinical review is required to determine appropriateness for the veteran.

Identify and communicate veteran concerns or needs recognized during communications regarding upcoming Community Care.

Provides follow up calls to veterans when it is identified that an appointment was not attended. Incumbent assists veterans in rescheduling appointments in cases of missed or no-show appointments.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:30am-4:00pm 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) 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: Ad-hoc only, per Supervisor's discretion Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 000000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized