Medical Support Assistant

Medical Support Assistant

This position is located in Health Administration Service (HAS) at the James E. Van Zandt VA Medical Center, Altoona, PA. The Medical Support Assistant (MSA) is responsible for performing a variety of technical support duties that facilitate the work of physicians, physician assistants, nurses, nursing assistants, and other members of the medical facility who provide direct patient care.

Responsibilities The MSA is responsible for answering phones, greeting patients, relaying messages to appropriate staff inside or outside of the unit, scheduling appointments, including interpreting, and verifying provider orders in accordance with VHA national scheduling and consult guidelines. Assignments at this level include, but are not limited to:

• Schedules routine and specialized appointments for the unit and with other units within the health care system, while ensuring proper sequencing.
• Performing clerical duties related to patient care and treatments such as admitting and discharging, travel arrangements, forwarding medication orders, work orders, and maintaining electronic medical charts.
• Responsible for performing a variety of duties including, but not limited to data entry.
• Notifying service administrative staff of supplies necessary to perform duties.
• Applying knowledge of medical terminology correctly in order to complete duties.
• Verifying and updating demographics including temporary addresses, insurance information, sharing caregiver information, and administrative clinical reminders.
• Effectively communicates, both verbally and in writing with internal and external sources.
• Coordinates consultations and referrals of patients to Specialty Services within the facility and outside the facility.
• Receives and relays a high volume of incoming and outgoing communication via telephone, fax, and email, from patients, staff and outside sources concerning a variety of medical, personnel, and administrative matters.
• Determines the nature of the inquiry and independently responds or routes to appropriate clinical staff in a timely manner appropriate to the urgency of the correspondence.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Medical Support Assistant:

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

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: Not Available

Functional Statement #: 542-03712-F

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 dentification 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).

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 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. Education: High school diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education. English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoke and written English in accordance with 38 USC § 7403(f).

Grade Determinations Medical Support Assistant, GS-3: Experience or Education. None beyond the basic requirements.

Medical Support Assistant, GS-4: Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade; OR Education. One (1) year of education above high school. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. Candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs below:

• Ability to meet, communicate, and interact with individuals from varying backgrounds and other health care team members in a courteous and helpful manner in order to facilitate medical care for patients.
• Ability to use, and navigate between, various @types of office automation equipment and software (i.e. computer systems, web-based scheduling programs; insurance collection system; scanning software, multiple line phone systems; electronic faxing programs) to support patient care.
• Knowledge of basic medical terminology to assist in the provision of care to patients.
• Skill in recording patient messages and understanding physician requests pertaining to follow-up medical care in internal or external clinics.

Medical Support Assistant, GS-5: Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade. Qualifying specialized experience includes: scheduling, canceling, re-scheduling patient's appointments and/or consults; interviewing patients for appointments; referring patients to other medical specialty clinics; providing information to patients necessary to resolve complaints; reviewing and documenting medical outpatient and inpatient health records; verifying third party insurance and updating information; OR Education. Two (2) years of education above high school. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: Candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs below:

• 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 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.
• 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.

Grade Determinations: The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-5. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-3 to GS-5.

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

Physical Requirements: Work is performed in an office setting and is primarily sedentary. May require lifting and carrying of light loads (e.g.files, records etc.) 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 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