Medical Support Assistant (advanced)

Advanced Medical Support Assistant

The incumbent serves as an Advanced Medical Support Assistant (AMSA) in the VA Community Care (VACC) team. The AMSA performs clerical and administrative support in the coordination, care, and treatment provided to veterans through the VA Community Care referral processing procedures at the Fargo VA Health Care System, which includes the Community Based Outreach Clinics (CBOCs).

Major duties include but are not limited to:

• Provides specialized and expert administrative patient support while working collaboratively in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model.
• Develop and/or maintain effective and efficient communication with the veteran, veteran representatives, interdisciplinary care teams, VA medical centers, and other agencies.
• Ensures the integrity of various databases, and data used in the management of administrative and customer service within the department.
• Responsible for scheduling appointments, including interpreting and verifying provider orders in accordance with Community Care processes guidelines and directives.
• Utilizes consult status to support accurate record of the status of the consult as it moves through the process from approval for Community Care to the point that correct results are attached to the consult.
• Communicates effectively, efficiently and appropriately with other Administrative staff, RNs and leadership in VACC to ensure accurate and timely processing of consults and incoming workload.
• Provides follow up calls to veterans when it is identified that an appointment was not attended.
• Correctly links Community Care appointments with the scheduling package to ensure information is available for others scheduling care in the future thus avoiding conflicts or double scheduling appointments within and outside the VA within similar timeframe.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am to 4:30pm CST

Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized

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: Ad-hoc

Functional Statement #: 000000

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.

You may be required to serve a trial period.

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.

Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).

Qualifications:

Basic Requirements:

Citizenship. Citizen of the United States.

Experience and Education. (1) 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, (2) Education. One year above high school; OR, (3) Experience/Education Combination. Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable.

Certification. None required.

Foreign Education. To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must have been submitted to a private organization that specializes in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education must have been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. programs.

Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.

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

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:

Medical Support Assistant (Advanced), GS-6 Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level.

GS5 experience is demonstrated by the following:

• Ability to operate computerized programs and [systems] in order to enter, modify, and retrieve sensitive medical and patient identifying information (PII) into or from electronic records, scheduling systems, and/or reports.
• Advanced knowledge of medical terminology specific to understand medical diagnosis and procedures sufficient to communicate clinical staff instructions to patients.
• Ability to [schedule medical] appointments in a clinical setting.
• Ability to work independently in the accomplishment of a wide variety of duties performing patient support work.
• Ability to communicate effectively and professionally in person, electronically, and/or by telephone, with internal and external customers.

Skill in customer service with the ability to identify customer concerns, and refer to the appropriate staff, as necessary, to ensure a satisfactory resolution.

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.

Preferred Experience: At least 1 year of medical scheduling experience.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

Physical Requirements: You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position. Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination.

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