Medical Support Assistant

Summary

The purpose of the position is to serve as an Medical Support Assistant, also known as Inpatient Ward Clerk in Health Administration Service. The incumbent is responsible for a wide range of assignments and provides administrative support to the section.

Duties

• DUTIES: The incumbent(s) receives telephone calls for the unit, records and relays messages to appropriate staff. Provides general information regarding visiting hours, office hours, and whether unit personnel are on duty. Aware of all units to which these policies apply and can identify with each by cross training and rotating units. Refers all questions pertaining to a patient's status or condition and all questions requiring medical or triage determination to the nursing staff. Coordinate with the medical clinics to send inpatients for required tests, pre-operative procedures, therapies and scheduled appointments based on the doctor's discharge instructions and/or consult management. Receives, directs, transfers, and discharges patients; receives and directs visitors; answer routine, abrupt, and emergent inquires and makes appropriate referral of questions concerning patient's condition. Coordinate with nursing staff, nursing staff supervisor and bed flow coordinator to assign rooms for new admissions and transfers. Build a medical chart for each new admission. Ensure that all required activities have been completed prior to discharging a patient, and that follow-up appointments and/or consults have been accurately scheduled. Prepare admission packets. Respond to technical questions regarding patient rights, responsibilities, and advance directives. Perform a variety of duties in support of data entry and collection for the unit.. Accurately maintains the Ward Gains and Losses log. Post patient's appointments, therapy times, and required labs and procedures on boards which are maintained at the nurses' station. Performs various administrative duties as it relates to the Residential Rehabilitation Treatment Program (RRTP) to include admissions and discharges. Manage and ensures timely and appropriate scheduling of consults and processes. Completes insurance capture entries (ICB) in adherence to local and national measures as third-party collections are a vital aspect of facility revenue. Electronically verifies doctors' orders and alerts staff for time critical medications, labs, x-rays, and EKG's. Manually transcribes doctors' handwritten or electronic orders onto the appropriate medication, pre-op, or treatment sheets for nursing staff. Verifies and corrects patient information in the computer systems concerning treating specialties, providers and times of movements, and informs supervisor of discrepancies. The incumbent(s) must be conscientious regarding the confidentiality of the variety of material that will be handled. The position requires a practical knowledge of an extensive body of the organization's rules and regulations governing confidentiality, including but not limited to the Privacy Act, Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) . Prints out and posts the most current on-call rosters, emergency list, and medical/surgical staff listing as appropriate boards on the wards. Ensure that the ward's printers, telephones, fax machines, copiers, document scanners, and shredders are operational and stocked with supplies. . Duties are performed independently but with supervision and auditing to ensure compliance with VHA directives, procedures, handbooks, laws and locally established policies. Incumbent accomplishes objectives of the Section and uses considerable judgment and initiative in solving problems to ensure efficient operation of their duties. I Performance is evaluated on the quantitative and qualitative effectiveness of the incumbent's ability to perform given job duties. The incumbent will also assist the Eligibility and Enrollment with management in the completion of data validation. Incumbent is responsible for adherence to all provisions of the Equal Opportunity Program in accordance with OPM and VA regulations and established medical center guidelines. Complies with all safety/fire prevention rules/regulations, using protective equipment when req…

Qualifications

Basic Requirements. Citizenship. Citizen of the United States. (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, paragraph 3.g.). Experience and Education. 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. (SEE ADDITIONAL INFORMATION UNDER EDUCATION SECTION) Certification. None required. Grandfathering Provision. See under Education Section. Foreign Education. See under Education Section. Physical Requirements. See under Education Section. 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. GRADE REQUIREMENTS: See information under Education Section. Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment, candidates must meet the following grade-determining criteria for placement at grade levels specified. Medical Support Assistant, GS-05. Experience or Education. Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-04). Examples of creditable experience include but are not limited to: interviewing patients for appointments; referring patients to other medical specialty clinics; reviewing and documenting medical outpatient and inpatient electronic health records, as well as administrative records; verifying third party insurance and updating information in the Insurance Capture Buffer (ICB) system; obtaining medical information from patients; and scheduling appointments in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines. OR Education. Two years of education above high school. Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience or education above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: (a) Advanced knowledge of medical terminology specific to understand medical diagnosis and procedures sufficient to communicate clinical staff instructions to patients. (b) Skill in customer service with the ability to identify customer concerns, and refer to the appropriate staff, as necessary, to ensure a satisfactory resolution. (c) 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. (d) Ability to schedule medical appointments in a clinical setting. (e) Ability to work independently in the accomplishment of a wide variety of duties performing patient support work.(f) Ability to communicate effectively and professionally in person, electronically, and/or by telephone, with internal and external customers. Assignment. This is the full performance level for MSAs. At this level, the MSA independently performs a full range of duties related to the delivery of health care services in an inpatient or outpatient setting. Advises clinical staff on current administrative processes. The MSA is responsible for answering phones, greeting patients, relaying messages to appropriate staff inside or outside of the unit, and scheduling appointments, including interpreting and verifying provider orders in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines. Assignments at this level include, but are 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…

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/. Documentation Requirements for Proof of High School Completion or higher: If using post-high school education to substitute for experience at the GS-04 or GS-05, you must submit a copy of your unofficial or official college transcript with your application. If selected, to meet the basic requirement of high school education or equivalent and prior to a firm job offer being extended, applicants must provide one of the following as verification of the education requirement if not covered under the grandfathering provision: Copy of high school diploma OR high school transcript (unofficial or official) OR GED Certificate OR homeschooling completion OR proficiency certificate issued by a State or Territorial Board or Department of Education OR college transcript (official). 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. Grandfathering Provision (continued from Qualifications section). All MSAs employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series, and grade held, which are a part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all…