Duties

Summary

These positions are assigned to the Mental Health Service at the Central Virginia VA Healthcare System in Richmond, Virginia. The incumbent provides administrative support to the Psychosocial Rehabilitation and Recovery Center (PRRC) and the Compensated Work Therapy (CWT) programs or Substance Abuse Treatment Program (SATP). The incumbent will need to provide excellent customer service.

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Responsibilities

The incumbent's primary focus will be the collection, compilation and tracking of data and statistical information, and report preparation in support of the service line. They would also assist with performance improvement, performance measures, encounter and workload study, and program outcome data. This data needs to be posted on a quarterly basis to keep Veterans, stakeholders and employees up to date on ongoing performance improvement projects within the PRRC/CWT or SATP.

The position requires the incumbent to be highly organized, be patient centered, and be able to function in a high profile service area. The incumbent schedules patient appointments as necessary for all clinics within the PRRC/CWT or SATP staff working in the field. Incumbent will verify patient registration information as well as manage consults as appropriate. The incumbent must be able to coordinate patient appointments across other service lines, within Mental Health, arrange for continuous patient flow with varied follow-up appointments, and to complete the documentation/administrative paperwork and tracking for extensive patient care services and encounters.

Duties include but are not limited to:

• Assure that crucial calls and correspondence are forwarded appropriately and that all patient information is made available to clinical staff.
• Assist PRRC/CWT or SATP in tracking and completion of suspense assigned by Leadership requiring program information. Create, copy, edit, store, retrieve, and print a variety of correspondence and documents (letters, minutes, memos, reports, calendar, etc.), from handwritten drafts into final copy.
• Perform all typing and transcribing of voice recordings adhering to procedural and grammatical guidelines.
• Independently screen all outgoing correspondence for conformance with regulations and station policy, including spelling, grammar, capitalization, punctuation and format.
• Maintain an active database of patients and assigned case managers. Distribute consults to staff members and monitors encounters for daily closure.
• Incumbent schedules appointments for patients with clinics, services, and consultants. Incumbent will initiates action to notify staff and patients of appointments and ensures that patient information is available to clinician on day of appointment. Insurance verification processes to be followed per protocol.
• Responsible for office equipment maintenance, including toner and developer replenishment in both Xerox machine and printers. Perform periodic inventory of program specific equipment including computers and printers. Responsible for procurement of products, supplies and/or equipment to support operations of the PRRC/CWT or SATP programs.
• Develop and maintain reports using Excel, Power Point, and other software packages to create and compile weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual reports.
• Receive visitors to the Mental Health Clinics, including patients, family members, and various other staff members. And required to give correct and appropriate information regarding clinics, set up appointments or effect other appropriate disposition of various issues and problems presented by these visitors.

Work Schedule: 8am-4:30pm
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Travel Required

Not required

Supervisory status
No

Promotion Potential
None

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
• 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

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.
• 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 - Equivalent combination of experience and education.
• 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 3j.

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).

Grade Determinations: For Advanced Medical Support Assistant, GS-6: One year of experience at or equivalent to the next lower grade level GS-5. In addition to the Basic Requirements defined above, the incumbent must demonstrate the following KSAs:

• 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: For additional information, please refer to VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Appendix G45 Medical Support Assistant Qualification Standards, GS-0679, dated August 1, 2019. This can be found in the local Human Resources Office.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-6.

Physical Requirements: No special physical qualifications are required to perform the work; however, emotional stability is required to make sound decisions and resolve crisis situations. The work requires ability to move around the office and the medical center and to carry such items as records, books and equipment. The work environment involves everyday risks or discomforts which require normal safety precautions typical of such places as offices/clinical setting, meeting and training rooms, or libraries. The work area is adequately lighted, heated and ventilated.

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

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.

• Cover Letter
• Other (1)
• Performance Appraisal
• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

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.