LEAD Medical Support Assistant

Lead Medical Support Assistant

The Charles George VAMC is recruiting for one (1) Lead Medical Support Assistant with the Health Administration Service (HAS) in the Ward Administration. The Lead Ward MSA is responsible for overseeing a broad range of duties that support patients and staff within the facility's inpatient wards. Responsibilities include updating patient demographic information, maintaining the BMS whiteboard, collecting insurance information for third-party billing, processing patient movements, scheduling appointments, responding to incoming phone inquiries, and operating computer systems such as VISTA, ISS, CPRS, EDIS, BioPoint, ICB, Bed Board, and ProVation. The Lead MSA also ensures accurate and timely scheduling of appointments, provides guidance to staff regarding policy and procedural updates, creates and maintains staff work schedules, and serves as a liaison among MSA staff, patients, and other interdisciplinary teams to resolve day-to-day issues.

The Lead MSA provides comprehensive, ongoing training to both new and existing Ward Administrative MSA team members within the unit. The incumbent is responsible for assisting in the development of training materials and ensuring the Ward Administration training program remains current and thorough, keeping assigned employees informed of all updates to HAS policies and procedures. The incumbent must be capable of organizing and delivering training content through effective oral and written communication. Responsible for maintaining the training schedule, keeping accurate training records, and providing feedback to the Supervisor regarding employee training progress.

Work Schedule: Day tour, tour of duty will be discussed during interview.

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)

Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience.

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: Not Available

Functional Statement #: 0000

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.

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:

United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.

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.

English Language Proficiency: Must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, paragraph 3.j.

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:

Lead Medical Support Assistant, GS-7 Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-6 grade level Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. Candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs below:

Advanced knowledge of medical terminology and a wide range of clinical flow processes relating to access to care across multiple clinics, specialties, and/or community resources.

Ability to utilize numerous advanced patient systems in support of multiple clinics in an interdisciplinary setting.

Ability to organize work, set priorities, and delegate tasks/responsibilities in order to meet deadlines.

Skill in communicating with individuals to obtain the desired effect and coordinating with a variety of interdisciplinary care team staff.

Ability to provide staff development and training.

Ability to manage staffing requirements, manage workflow priorities, and adjust the flow of work to meet team and patient needs. This includes the ability to follow-up on pending issues and demonstrate an understanding of the impact of incomplete work across multiple clinics.

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 7.

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:

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 as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience.

This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave.

Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.

Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer.