Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

The Advanced MSA works collaboratively in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model and assists the clinical providers in coordinating certain administrative details appointment schedules and clinic consult services; customer service and other duties assigned for the proper and timely treatment of patients and maintain appointment schedules for multiple Community Care duties include but are not limited to:

• Supporting patient safety standards using the correct Veterans Affairs identification of all patients
• Setting the tone for perception concerning quality of healthcare services at the VA.
• Explaining the VAs mandate to collect insurance information to veterans their families and other eligible patients.
• Screening/Receiving phone calls in a courteous and timely manner determine the nature of requests and provide the information desired using privacy rules and established processes.
• Generating authorizations for pre-authorized outpatient unauthorized and emergency care claims while making eligibility determinations for the various programs in Community Medical Care.
• Managing and coordinating appointment management with the creation of authorizations.
• Collaborating with VA clinicians third party administrator (TPA) and community clinicians to obtain clinical documentation and direction to further coordinate plan organize and direct outpatient/inpatient community care and complex outpatient/inpatient diagnostic procedures.
• Coordinating follow-up care at the direction of the community clinicians/vendor TPA and the VA clinicians including providing evaluation and diagnostic reports to VA clinicians for continuation of care and verification of care authorized.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:45AM - 4:30PM
Telework: May be authoroized on an ad-hoc basis by the supervisory.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 60119-F
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this 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 dentification 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:

• 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. None.
• 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.
• 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: In addition to the basic requirements for employment listed above the following education and experience criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates:

Grade Determinations: GS-06 Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)In addition to the basic requirements you must meet the following grade requirements. To qualify at this level candidates must have: One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level. Examples of credible experience at this level include but are not limited to: 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 clinical/medical facilities or private hospitals and determines appointment type based on the patients eligibility status.

AND

Candidates must also demonstrate the Knowledge Skills and Abilities (KSAs) below:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians.
4. 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.
5. Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines ensuring compliance with established processes policies and regulations.
6. 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.

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.

Preferred Experience: Previous experience as a medical support assistant working in a call center and/or performing administrative health care functions.

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

Physical Requirements: Typically the Advanced Medical Support Assistant must be able to operate a computer terminal and be able to manage multiple activities at one time. Work is generally sedentary; however there may be some walking standing bending and carrying of light items. Work Environment: The work may be stressful due to the accelerated pace for several hours at a time during peak clinic hours or on days that have a large volume of clinic activity.

Education

There is no substitution of education for experience at this grade level.