Medical Support Assistant (advanced)

Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

The Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) works in the Business Administration Service at the VA Southern Nevada Healthcare System, Las Vegas, NV. The incumbent's work impacts the administrative aspect of patient care, including: access, scheduling/coordinating appointments using advanced clinic access principles, collecting and updating demographic and insurance information, patient processing, and customer service.

Responsibilities Major duties and responsibilities include but are not limited to the following:

• Works collaboratively in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model (i.e. PACT), and performs receptionist duties, customer service, and other duties assigned for the proper and timely treatment of patients, and maintains appointment schedules for one or more outpatient clinics.
• Assist 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 and 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.
• Participates in the daily team huddles, and weekly team meetings.
• Notifies the supervisor when clinic access is less than desirable or if an individual patient cannot be scheduled within mandated clinic timeframes.
• Review active/pending consults, electronic wait list, recall list, and audio care communications for accuracy and disposition daily.
• Coordinates administrative services for veterans, family members, caregivers, and general public, administrative and clinical staff to insure continuity of inpatient and outpatient care.
• Ensure that all necessary health administrative information are integrated into the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) by sending the documents for scanning.
• Interprets and applies a complex body of pertinent laws, regulations, directives, and policies that relate to the administration of VA Healthcare Benefits.
• Distribute and balance the workload among employees in accordance with established work flow or job specialization, assures timely accomplishment of assigned workload, and assures that each employee has enough work to keep busy.
• Generates patient workload reports for validation and monitors activity in clinical areas to assure consistent and accurate reporting.
• Organizes and implements quality assurance monitors.
• Prepares a wide variety of administrative reports and documents in support of Business Administrative Service.

Work Schedule: TBD

Telework: Not Available

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Requirements Conditions of Employment:

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, driver's 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 interest. 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.

Qualifications:

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. Citizen of the United States.
• Non-citizens may 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 this 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.
• 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.

Grade Determinations:

Medical Support Assistant (Advanced), GS-6 Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level with Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. 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.

Assignment. The Advanced MSA provides specialized and expert administrative patient support while working collaboratively in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model. Work involves specialized administrative judgment and the flexible use of a wide range of clinical flow processes relating to access to care across multiple clinics, specialties, and/or care in the community resources. Recommends changes to existing clinic procedures based on current administrative guidelines. Expertise in utilizing numerous advanced patient systems in support of multiple clinics involved in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model. Coordinates with the patient care team to review clinic appointment availability (utilization) to ensure that clinic schedules are closely monitored to effectively support the needs of the clinics and makes adjustments as necessary. MSAs at this level develop and/or maintain effective and efficient communication with the patient, interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model teams, VA medical centers, and other agencies (e.g., assist with communications during the inpatient to outpatient discharge; communicate with non-VA medical facilities; prepare correspondence to notify patients of normal lab results; manage a system for follow-up care such as consults, tests, 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 GS-06.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.

Education Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Additional Information Position Location: Southeast Las Vegas VA Clinic 1020 South Boulder Highway Henderson, NV 89015-8533

Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served