Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

Summary

**THIS ANNOUNCEMENT MAY CLOSE EARLY UPON RECEIPT OF 50 APPLICATIONS** The Advanced Medical Support Assistant (AMSA) in the VISN Clinical Contact (CCC), works as part of an interdisciplinary healthcare team providing and supporting administrative and clinical scheduling activities as assigned. The Advanced MSA provides specialized and expert administrative patient support while working collaboratively in an inter-professional coordinated care delivery model.

Duties

• As an Advanced Medical Support Assistant your duties will include but not limited to the following: Provide specialized and expert administrative patient support while working collaboratively in an inter-professional coordinated care delivery model. Works collaboratively with VISN programs, services, and inter-professional coordinated care team members to provide access to care and meet the needs of Veterans via various available contact modalities to include but not limited to telephone calls, secure messaging, chat, text messaging and video. Be responsible for answering telephones, secure messages and chat messages, greeting patients, relaying messages to appropriate staff inside or outside of the VISN CCC, scheduling appointments, interpreting and verifying provider orders in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines. Recommends changes to existing clinic procedures based on current administrative guidelines. Will utilizing numerous advanced patient systems in support of multiple clinics involved in an inter-professional coordinated care delivery model. Develop and/or maintain effective and efficient communication with the patient, inter-professional care delivery teams, VA medical centers, and other agencies; communicate with non-VA medical facilities. Scheduling, canceling, re-scheduling patient appointments and/or consults; entering no-show information; monitoring appointment requests from multiple electronic sources Gathering and obtaining medical information from patients; processing medication refill requests; reviewing electronic health record, obtaining obtaining medical records. Participating in huddles with other MSAs and/or VISN CCC staff to determine the daily needs of the VISN CCC, monitoring outpatient appointments in areas of responsibility. Verifying and updating demographics when contacted by patients. Manages patient systems to verify and validate accuracy and resolve issues; evaluates patient information and clinic schedule lists to determine whether the patient requires an immediate appointment; informs inter-professional team members about shared patients. Provides information and resolution to Veterans' requests within scope, uses administrative judgement to escalate symptomatic concerns to clinicians within the VISN CCC or directs the contact to the appropriate discipline within the CCC or department for resolution. Screens incoming contacts and independently routes the contacts to the appropriate area for resolution. Uses advanced knowledge of health care process as it relates to access of care to ensure Veteran appointment scheduling is efficient, operational and prioritized to maintain Veteran flow and clinic readiness. Utilizes various software, hardware system products, and data portals to transfer and capture information electronically for the support of the daily operation of the unit. Operates within the various contact modalities to receive and respond to incoming and outgoing contacts using computerized interfaces and telecommunications hardware and software. Provides accurate details of organizational information to Veterans regarding the different services the VA offers. Provides high-quality customer service to Veterans and their families/caregivers. Communicates tactfully and effectively to challenging customers who may be threatening, abusive, or distraught. Resolves Veteran complaints as appropriate. Performs duties as assigned to ensure efficient and effective operations. Other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Varying, Rotating Shifts. WHEN Schedule - Weekends, Holidays, Evenings and Nights. Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Remote Position: This is a fully remote position within the Clinical Contact Center. Telework: Employee must agree to sign Telework Agreement. Employee must have access to high speed internet (Hard Wire). Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 99708-FS Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Perma…

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: You must be a citizen of the United States. Experience or Education: Experience: Six months experience of clerical, office, customer service or other 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 (transcript is required with application); OR Experience/Education Combination: Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable.(transcript is required with application); Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment listed above, the following education and experience criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates: GS-6 Advanced Medical Support Assistant: Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level. GS-5 grade level experience includes, but is not limited to: scheduling, canceling, re-scheduling patient appointments and/or consults; entering no-show information; monitoring appointment requests from multiple electronic sources; participating in huddles with other MSAs and/or clinic staff to determine the daily needs of the clinic, monitoring both inpatient and outpatient appointments in areas of responsibility; verifying and updating demographics and insurance information when patients check-in for appointments. Coordinates administrative functions relating to emergency and non-emergency transfers to other VA facilities or private hospitals and determines appointment type based on the patient's eligibility status (i.e., TRICARE, sharing agreements, collaterals, research patient, VA employee, etc.). Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. Candidates must demonstrate the KSAs below: Ability to collaborate, communicate, set priorities, and organize the work in order to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations Ability to communicate tactfully and effectively, both orally and in writing, in order to meet program objectives. This may include preparing reports in various formats and presenting data to various organizational level. Advanced knowledge of the technical health care process as it relates to access to care. Advanced knowledge of managing a clinic. This includes independently utilizing reference sources, decision making, and empowering the team to collaborate and resolve problems within a complex systems environment. Advanced knowledge of policies and procedures associated with operational activities that affect the patient flow, patient care, and the revenue process. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians. Note: You must provide detailed information of your experience performed. Information such as "I was a Medical Support Assistant" is insufficient to determine your qualifications. Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hour worked per week. Note: Quality of Experience. Qualifying experience must be at a level comparable to Advanced MSA experience or equivalent administrative clinical support role in a non-VA medical inpatient or outpatient setting at the next lower grade level. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity/difficulty and a range of varieties. Preferred Experience: Preferred candidates will possess experience in a clinical contact center, call center, healthcare scheduling, or related administrative healthcare setting; strong customer service and communication skills; proficiency with electronic health reco…

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on 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/.