Duties

Summary

The incumbent is assigned to the Ambulatory and Emergency Care Clinical Center (AECCC) at the VA Maryland Healthcare System Located in Rosedale, MD. The Advanced Medical Support Assistant (AMSA) schedules appointments in accordance with VHA 1230 National Scheduling Directive; including canceling, re-scheduling patient appointments and/or consults; including monitoring and maintenance of the Electronic Wait List (EWL). Monitors pre-appointment requirements to assure readiness for patient visits.

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Responsibilities

The MSA provides administrative and clerical support. The MSA is responsible for the following duties to include, but are not limited to:

• Schedules appointments in accordance with VHA 1230 National Scheduling Directive; including canceling, re-scheduling patient appointments and/or consults; including monitoring and maintenance of the Electronic Wait List (EWL).
• Monitors pre-appointment requirements to assure readiness for patient visit and/or procedure (e.g. x-ray, lab work, etc.).
• Coordinates with the patient care team to review clinic utilization by using various reports, ensures that the clinic set up is closely monitored to effectively support the needs of the clinic and makes recommendations to the Lead MSA and/or Supervisory MSA if adjustments are required.
• Facilitates and processes secure messaging with the patient and team through MyHealtheVet.
• Participates in team huddles and team meetings to manage and plan patient care, setting priorities and deadlines, adjusting workflow to meet team and patient needs.
• Assess daily workflow and tasks and prioritize according to urgency.
• Shares information with team and providers regarding patient information (for those patients who receive care at multiple VA's or in the community and whether patients are vested).
• Manages patient flow to the clinic areas verifying and updating patient demographics to include insurance information.
• Ensuring that patient encounters are complete by check-out, cancelling, and/or no-show for timely and accurate coding.
• Assists and provides guidance to Veterans seeking medical treatment, experiencing problems and requesting information.
• Determines appropriate scheduling to assist Veterans' medical care needs per provider's orders; extracts orders from CPRS, processes orders, and verifies orders and consults, and clears unverified orders daily; identifies discrepancies in requested orders and standard operating procedure and addresses these discrepancies with the ordering provider.
• Promptly answers and processes numerous phone calls from patients, co-workers, vendors, and other external entities.
• Develops tracking mechanisms for patient backlogs.
• All other duties as assigned, pertaining to this occupation, to meet the needs of the Agency, Department, Facility, and/or Service.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8:00am - 4:30pm
Telework: Not Eligible
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Travel Required

Not required

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
6

Requirements

Conditions of Employment

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job
• Designated and/or random drug testing may be required
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to a background/security investigation
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process

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. Citizen of the United States (Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy).
• Experience and Education. 1) Experience. Six 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, 2) Education. One year above high school; OR, 3) Experience/Education Combination. Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable.
• Physical Requirements. Have the mental and physical ability to satisfactorily perform the duties of the proposed assignment and pass the requisite laboratory and other screening as required by Federal regulatory
• English Language Proficiency. Must be proficient in spoken and written English.

May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).

Preferred Experience:

• Basic knowledge of computer programs.
• Basic knowledge of a variety of window-based applications, such as Outlook, Excel, and Word for registry assignments.
• Demonstrates interpersonal skills though the capacity to work with others and ability to be self- directed.
• Manages time (specifically schedules), prioritizes deadlines and requests, and maintains organizational standards.
• Communicates appropriately both verbally and in writing with professional, administrative, and technical personnel.

Grade Determinations: Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) GS-6:

Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level.

Examples of assignments and knowledge, skills and abilities at the GS-05 grade level include but are not limited to: Assignment: The MSAindependently performs a full range of duties related to the delivery of healthcare 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, 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 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.).

KSA'S: i. 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. ii. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology specific to understand medical diagnosis and procedures sufficient to communicate clinical staff instructions to patients. iii. Ability to schedule medical appointments in a clinical setting. iv. Ability to work independently in the accomplishment of a wide variety of duties performing patient support work. v. Ability to communicate effectively and professionally in person, electronically, and/or by telephone, with internal and external customers. vi. Skill in customer service with the ability to identify customer concerns, and refer to the appropriate staff, as necessary, to ensure a satisfactory resolution.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. Candidates must demonstrate all of he KSAs below:
i. 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.
ii. Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations.
iii. 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.
iv. 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.
v. 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.
vi. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians.

References: VA Handbook 5005/114, Part II, Appendix G45, Dated: August 1, 2019

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-6. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-6 to GS-6.

Physical Requirements: Work is generally sedentary in nature with some walking, standing and bending. Occasionally requires moderate physical activity, e.g. carrying light items such as books and papers, or lifting stacks of boxes or records. Work is performed in a well-lighted, climate-controlled office.

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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html .

Additional information

This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.

VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

If you are unable to apply online view the following link for information regarding an Alternate Application .

How You Will Be Evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, résumé, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

Background checks and security clearance

Security clearance
Other

Drug test required
No

Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk

Trust determination process
Suitability/Fitness

Required Documents

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action

NOTE: If you are a current Federal Employee applying for promotion, you must include a copy of your most recent Performance Appraisal.

VA Form 10-2850c Application for Associated Health Occupations can be found at: http://www.va.gov/vaforms/search_action.asp?FormNo=2850&tkey=&Action=Search .

The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please use this checklist to ensure you have included all documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), etc.

• DD-214/ Statement of Service
• Disability Letter (Schedule A)
• Disability Letter (VA)
• VA Form 10-2850c - Application
• Performance Appraisal
• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

Veterans' Preference: When applying for Federal Jobs, eligible Veterans should claim preference for 5pt (TP), 10pt (CP/CPS/XP), or for Sole Survivor Preference (SSP) in the questionnaire. You must provide a legible copy of your DD214(s) which shows dates and character of service (honorable, general, etc.). If you are currently serving on active duty and expect to be released or discharged within 120 days you must submit documentation related to your active duty service which reflects the dates of service, character of service (honorable, general, etc.), and dates of impending separation. Additionally, disabled veterans and others eligible for 10-point preference (such as widows or mothers of eligible Veterans) must also submit an SF-15 "Application for 10 Point Veteran Preference" with required proof as stated on the form. Documentation is required to award preference. For more information on Veterans' Preference, please visit http://www.fedshirevets.gov/job/vetpref/index.aspx .

If you are relying on your education to meet qualification requirements:

Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education .

Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.