Advanced Medical Support Assistant

Description:

This is the Advanced level of the position. The incumbent serves as an Advanced Medical Support Assistant under the scheduling section of the Finger Lakes VHA in support of the following locations: Bath , Canandaigua , Rochester, Elmira, Wellsville, Coudersport, and Wellsboro. They may be assigned to a Patient Aligned Care Team, Behavioral Health Program, Mental Health Team, Ancillary Services, Call Center Team, Medical Services, or a Specialty Care Setting within the VA Finger Lakes.

Requirements:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 03/11/2025.

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.
• 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.
• 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.

Grade Determinations : One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level. 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. Experience to the next lower grade includes but not limited to:

• Assignments 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; interviewing patients for appointments; referring patients to other medical specialty clinics; providing information to patients necessary to resolve complaints; interacting with both internal and external customers; reviewing and documenting medical outpatient and inpatient electronic health records, as well as administrative records; verifying third party insurance

In addition to the grade level experience, you will be rated on the following KSA's for this position:

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities .

Candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs 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 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.
• 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.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Note : A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment.

For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/ .