The Lead Medical Support Assistant (Lead MSA) works for the San Francisco VA Medical Center Ambulatory Care Staff supporting Medical Practice, Specialty Care Clinics, Women's Clinic, Hem/Onc, Infectious Disease, EYE/ENT, and/or Compensation and Pension service areas.
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. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019. 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. Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-6 grade level. Grandfathering Provision. 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 the basic requirements required in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply: (1) Such employees may be reassigned, promoted, or changed to a lower grade within the occupation. (2) Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis, until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard. (3) If an employee who was converted to Title 38 Hybrid status under this provision leaves the occupation, the employee loses protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation. 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: One year of experience equivalent to the GS-6 grade level. Candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs below: i. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology and a wide range of clinical flow processes relating to access to care across multiple clinics, specialties, and/or community resources. ii. Ability to utilize numerous advanced patient systems in support of multiple clinics in an interdisciplinary setting. iii. Ability to organize work, set priorities, and delegate tasks/responsibilities in order to meet deadlines. iv. Skill in communicating with individuals to obtain the desired effect and coordinating with a variety of interdisciplinary care team staff. v. Ability to provide staff development and training. vi. Ability to manage staffing requirements, manage workflow priorities, and adjust the flow of work to meet team and patient needs. This includes the ability to follow-up on pending issues and demonstrate an understanding of the impact of incomplete work across multiple clinics. References: VA Handbook 5005/117 Part II Appendix G45 Medical Support Assistant Qualification Standards The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-07. Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. Typically, the employee may sit comfortably to perform portions of the work. However, there is a periodic walking, standing, bending, and lifting. No special physical demands are required to perform the work.
The Lead MSA will serve as key manager of operations working directly for the Supervisor in the Service Area. The Lead MSA and Supervisors are essential collaborative team members who work in support of the Business Manager who carries out the directives of Group Practice Manager responsible for Ambulatory Care delivery within the SFVAMC. The Lead MSA will have general oversight of the day-to-day activities of the Ambulatory Care Advanced MSAs including contractors, ensuring that routine work is carried out timely and accurately and communicating supervisory problems to the Supervisor/Business Manager. Lead MSA will assist the Supervisor/Business Managers in disseminating new VA Directives and procedures that affect front desk and clinic operations and will provide training, as needed. The primary function of the Lead MSA is to ensure smooth operation of all aspects related to the clinical administrative operations of the service area. The Lead MSA shall monitor productivity and align staff to work assignments, provide input on performance, resolves daily workplace issues and oversee and implement processes that support efficient and effective workflow of their assigned service care lines and the assigned Advanced MSAs. Assignments at this level include, but are not limited to: assuring coverage of all areas of responsibility; conducting ongoing reviews to ensure quality of work; ensuring accurate and timely scheduling of appointments; providing guidance to Advanced MSAs to include changes in policies and procedures; distributing and balancing workload; creating and maintaining Advanced MSA work schedules; advising on employee training modules, orienting and providing on-the-job training for new and current Advanced MSAs; ensuring all training requirements are met; organizing the work structure of his/her assigned areas; and acting as liaison between Advanced MSA and other SFVAMC staff in order to resolve day to day conflicts. The Lead MSA performs duties related to the receipt, intake, and indexing of health and administrative information. The Lead MSA will interface with personal computer (PC) applications as well as numerous other programs including VISTA, CPRS applications, VETLINK, ICB, and NON VA CARE Portals. In addition the Lead MSA will serve as a key manager of the CISCO supervisor Desk Top phone system including the alignment of staff to the system, the day to day monitoring of the operational support of phone lines and the running of monthly reports to identify trends and opportunities for improvements in patient call in support. In addition, the Lead MSA shall serve as the primary TMS Administrator for the service, PIV Sponsor and Pin-code Re-set Administrator, Clinic Timekeeper and be the primary conduit to ADPAC for aligning personnel to correct computer programs and filters to ensure access points to support processes. The Lead MSA is responsible for all scheduling workflows, to include the Electronic Wait List maintenance, Primary Care Management Module (PCMM)/ dual enrollment maintenance and reports; clinic profile management (i.e. clinic setup, grid changes, cancel/block/restore clinics and monitoring); manage procedures associated with teams based on assigned service care lines (i.e. Primary Care, Specialty Care, Women's Clinic, Hem/Onc, ID, or Mental Health); ensuring insurance capture, updating patient information (i.e. next of kin, address, phone number, etc.); encounter data validation; recall reminders; consult management; patient notification of appointments. The Lead MSA serves as administrative support champion within the service area to LVN, Nurses, Providers and Administrative staff, for external stakeholders the Lead MSA serves as communication cog to voice and receive and patient, process, and policy concerns. As the administrative support champion they will facilitate the oversight of the clinic cancellation policies in their immediate service areas. Other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: 7:30am- 4:00pm PST, Monday-Friday Financial Disclosure Report: Not required