Medical Support Assistant (advanced) - Physical Medicine And Rehabilitation

Medical Support Assistant

The incumbent is either an integral part of a large Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) Department or the Rehabilitation and Extended Care Department within the Minneapolis VAHCS. This is a Complexity Level 1 Facility. S/he performs administrative support work in connection with the care and treatment given to patients in the Rec and/or PM&R Department.

Responsibilities:

• Sets and adjusts short-term priorities.
• Assures timely accomplishment of the workload.
• Performs a variety of administrative functions which support clinic/program operations including but not limited receiving/relaying incoming and outgoing telephone messages, receiving and directing patients and visitors, answering routine inquiries, scheduling appointments, managing consults, and maintaining supplies.
• Promotes team building and improves business practices.
• Collects and compiles information as needed to carry out the work of the clinic, program or department.
• Follows established clinic and appointment scheduling business rules including but not limited to consultations, scheduling, electronic wait lists, recall reminder, encounter action required reports, insurance capture, AudioCare, and missed opportunities.
• Routinely and timely shares pertinent information.
• Routinely accepts other ideas and integrates appropriate ones into practice.
• Routinely uses email communication as well as verbal communication in an appropriate manner.
• Refers all questions requiring immediate medical attention to appropriate health care team member.
• Fields and resolves customer complaints.
• Refers more serious unresolved complaints to a higher-level supervisor

Work Schedule: Administrative Days

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 may be available. Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Functional Statement #: 000000

Requirements:

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. 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: 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. No experience required.
• 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).

Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) GS-6 This position is above the full performance level for this job series and requires experience beyond the basic requirement for positions in this occupation. You must meet the basic requirements and the following:

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE: One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level that equips the candidate with the following:

• Operate computerized programs and systems in order to enter, modify, and retrieve sensitive medical and patient identifying information (PII) into or from electronic health 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;
• Schedule medical appointments in a clinical setting;
• Work independently in the accomplishment of a wide variety of duties performing patient support work;
• Communicate effectively and professionally in person, electronically, and/or by telephone, with internal and external customers;
• Customer service with the ability to identify customer concerns, and refer to the appropriate staff, as necessary, to ensure a satisfactory resolution.

AND Candidates must be able to demonstrate all of the Knowledge, Skills and Abilities 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 organizes 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.

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

The full performance level of this vacancy is 6.

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: 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 for 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.

The VA Midwest Health Care Network advocates for a Whole Health System of care in each of the Medical Centers. This