Duties

Summary

This position are assigned to the Hospital Administration Service at the Hampton Virginia VA Healthcare System in Hampton, Virginia. The Advanced Level MSA position serves as a clerk and is a foundational role within VAMC. The incumbent works closely with a variety of parties to develop and maintain effective and efficient communication with the patient, with the interdisciplinary team, with VA medical centers, and with other agencies.

Learn more about this agency

Responsibilities

Duties at this level may include, but may not be limited to:

Ensures timely clinical response to patients that potentially have an emergent or urgent care need and to serve as liaison between patients and the Medical Center staff and management.

Incumbent(s) obtain medical information from patients, transcribes this information accurately in the appropriate system, and communicates effectively and timely to the appropriate provider or team as needed. Requests medication refills and utilizes the CMOP database to track refills.

Incumbent(s) schedule, cancel, or reschedule appointments in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines. Verifies and updates demographics and insurance information. Retrieves and responds to data generated from Audio Care system. Conducts outbound phone calls in response to Veterans requests to reschedule cancelled appointments as necessary.

Incumbent(s) must answer phone calls in a courteous and timely manner, determine the nature of requests and utilize the information to meet patient needs and comply with privacy rules and clinic processes.

Incumbent(s) demonstrate technical competency in the use of the VistA and CPRS systems and be able to train others in its use. The incumbent(s) orients medical staff to basic administrative policies and procedures dealing with outpatient scheduling and other administrative topics

Work Schedule: Monday through Friday 7:30am-4pm; 8am-4:30pm; or 8:30am-5pm
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Position Title/Functional Statement #:Advanced Medical Support Assis/PD000000Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
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
• All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA.
• 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
• Participation in the seasonal influenza and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Vaccination programs are requirements for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

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: The work is administrative which is mostly sedentary but, also requires some standing, walking, sitting, stooping, bending, lifting light objects, answering telephone, and data entry.

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

Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. VA may offer newly-appointed Federal employee's credit for their job-related non-federal experience or active duty uniformed military service. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

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 or need to fax a document you do not have in electronic form, 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)
• Other (2)
• Other (3)
• Resume
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action

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.