Advanced Medical Support Assistant

VA Careers - Medical Support Assistant: duties include:

• Schedules outpatient clinic appointments using Veterans Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture (VistA) and other scheduling applications.

• Coordinates and prioritizes appointments in accordance with nationally established scheduling business rules policies and procedures.

• Schedules clinic visits consultations referrals and Community Care appointments.

• Serves as a patient scheduling coordinator and determines appropriate scheduling protocols based on patient and clinic needs.

• Communicates with Veterans families clinical staff affiliated staff and external customers regarding appointments and healthcare services.

• Provides telephone assistance triages incoming calls and routes patients and inquiries to the appropriate staff or service.

• Receives and checks in patients and assists with directing patients to appropriate clinic locations.

• Enters and maintains patient information including data within the Environmental Registry and other applicable systems.

• Works collaboratively within an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model to support efficient clinic operations and access to care.

• Serves as a resource regarding clinic processes regulations policies and procedures.

• Uses advanced knowledge of medical terminology patient flow healthcare processes and clinic operations to resolve administrative issues.

• Maintains confidentiality and safeguards sensitive patient information in accordance with the Privacy Act Federal regulations VA policy and VHA requirements.

• Provides courteous tactful and respectful customer service while appropriately resolving concerns and conflicts involving Veterans families visitors and staff.

Work Schedule: 8:00 am -4:30 pm
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 02374F
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• To be considered for this position you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements ( Effective May 7 2025 drivers licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the Required Documents section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public determining if your employment advances the public interest we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification in writing that your continued employment advances the public interest.

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: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Education: High school diploma General Education Development equivalency certificate or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education.
• 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).

Grade Determinations: GS-6 Medical Support Assistant (Advanced): One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level. This experience includes: 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 in areas of responsibility; verifying and updating demographics and insurance information when patients check-in for appointments. Coordinates administrative functions relating to emergency and non-emergency transfers to other VA facilities or private hospitals and determines appointment type based on the patients eligibility addition candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs below:

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

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard please visit full performance level of this vacancy is GS-06.

Physical Requirements: The work is mostly sedentary although some slight physical effort will be required using computers/phones; there may be some light lifting/carrying of files/documents; and walking throughout the service/facility for meetings etc.