Advanced Medical Support Assistant

Summary

This is an Open Continuous Announcement (OCA) and is open to Federal employees (Competitive and Excepted Service), the public and Veterans. Current federal employees of this agency (VA/VHA), please apply to announcement CBSU-1217987-23-GDA . The Advanced Medical Support Assistant (AMSA) position serves as a Clinic Clerk and is a foundational role within the VHA Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) initiative as well as the VHA Patient Centered Medical Home Model transformation initiative.

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
• English Language Proficiency Requirement: Per VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, Paragraph 3j: No person will be appointed under authority of 38 U.S.C., chapter 73 or 74, to serve in a direct patient-care capacity in VHA who is not proficient in written and spoken English
• Experience: Must have six (6) 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, Education: Have one (1) year of education above high school
• OR, Combination of experience and education: Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable
• Grade Determinations:GS-6 Experience: In addition to meeting the basic requirements, you must also have one year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 level
• The specialized experience for this position includes the following, but not limited to: Performing a full range of duties related to the delivery of healthcare services in an inpatient or outpatient setting, advises clinical staff on administrative processes, scheduling appointments, monitoring appointment requests from multiple electronic sources, verifying and updating demographics and insurance information, and coordinating administrative functions
• Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
• At this level, candidates must also demonstrate the following Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): (Candidates must demonstrate all KSA's at this level.) 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
• References: VA Handbook 5005/117, Part II, Appendix G-45, Medical Support Assistant Qualification Standards, GS-0679, Veterans Health Administration
• The full performance level of this vacancy is at the GS-06 grade level
• Physical Requirements: The position involves work that is mainly sedentary but requires some bending, walking, standing and lifting/carrying (under 15 LB) of supplies, patient records, staff and patient mail
• Some assignments may involve more frequent walking, but these assignments require no unusual physical demands to perform work
• The incumbent will need to have the ability to verbally communicate and hear (aid is permitted) using a telephone and also must be able to type and operate computer equipment as an essential part of their position.

Duties

"The Advanced Medical Support Assistant position is the administrative subject matter expert within the Team let and therefore has significant responsibilities within the team.
The following duties maybe included, but are not limited to: The position involves performing receptionist duties, customer service and other duties assigned for the proper and timely treatment of patients and maintains appointment schedules for one or more outpatient clinics.
The incumbent will assist with clinic access contingency plans by adjusting appointment times, location, or dates as well as shift patients to other healthcare providers as conflict with staffing and/or coverage occurs.
The incumbent utilizes various reports to ensure clinic setup is closely monitored to effectively support the needs of the clinic.
The MSA Supervisor accepts recommendations for clinic adjustments by the AMSA.
Incumbent screens/receives phone calls in a courteous and timely manner, determine the nature of requests and provide the information desired using privacy rules and established clinic processes.
The AMSA uses various databases to extract categorize and collate specific patient/provider metrics required to manage the chronic and preventive health care needs of the panel.
The AMSA develops and maintains specific reports used by the team to monitor, track and trend care delivery as well as participating/leading quality improvement efforts focused on cost, access, quality, and satisfaction.
The AMSA has significant responsibilities within this context including coordinating communications during the inpatient to outpatient discharge interface, communicating with non-VA medical offices/facilities to coordinate care, participating in secure messaging with the patient and team, notifying patients of normal lab results, developing, and managing a system for tracking needed follow-up care (consults, tests, etc.) and communicating with the patient and team as necessary.
The AMSA fully participates in daily and weekly team huddles to manage and plan patient care.
When patient flow requires adjusting based on priorities and deadlines, the incumbent works with the team to sequence the work to meet the team and patient needs.
The position provides medical administrative support to one or more outpatient clinics and is an integral member of the outpatient clinic team to effectively carry out day-to-day administrative operations of the clinic.
The incumbent is responsible for accurate appointment management and the coordination of all administrative information between the professional staff and the patient.
The incumbent provides administrative support to Physicians, Physician Assistants, Nurses, Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioners, Dietitians, Social Workers, and other administrative and professional staff throughout the Primary Care Service area.
Work Schedule: Full-time, Monday-Friday, 7:30am-4:00pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position Position Title/Functional Statement #: 52850A, 52867A Financial Disclosure Report: Not required PLEASE NOTE: ALTHOUGH THIS ANNOUNCEMENT REMAINS OPEN UNTIL SEPTEMBER 29, 2023, WE WILL BEGIN SCREENING APPLICANTS UP UNTIL THE ANNOUNCEMENT CLOSES, AS NEW VACANCIES BECOME AVAILABLE."