This position is assigned to the Dayton VA Medical Center, Primary Care Service, and is responsible for administrative\clerical duties in support of patient care including the implementation and sustainment of the VHA Primary Care Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) initiative. This is a bargaining unit position.
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: 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. 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: Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) GS-6 Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level. Assignment. The Advanced MSA provides specialized and expert administrative patient support while working collaboratively in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model. Work involves specialized administrative judgment and the flexible use of a wide range of clinical flow processes relating to access to care across multiple clinics, specialties, and/or care in the community resources. Recommends changes to existing clinic procedures based on current administrative guidelines. Expertise in utilizing numerous advanced patient systems in support of multiple clinics involved in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model. Coordinates with the patient care team to review clinic appointment availability to ensure that clinic schedules are closely monitored to effectively support the needs of the clinics, and makes adjustments as necessary. MSAs at this level develop and/or maintain effective and efficient communication with the patient, interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model teams, VA medical centers, and other agencies (e.g., assist with communications during the inpatient to outpatient discharge; communicate with non-VA medical facilities; prepare correspondence to notify patients of normal lab results. Other assignments at this level include, but are not limited to: processes incoming patient secure messaging through MyHealthyVet and coordinates with care team as appropriate; participates in team huddles and team meetings to manage, plan, problem solve, and follow-up with patient care by sharing information and collaborating with the interdisciplinary team; setting priorities and deadlines, adjusting the flow and sequencing of the work to meet team and patient needs; identifies incomplete encounters and communicates findings to providers; as needed; assists the team to reinforce the plan of care and self-help solutions; enters appropriate information into the electronic record; monitors pre-appointment information and/or requirements to assure readiness for patient visit/procedure; manages patient systems to verify and validate accuracy and resolve issues; evaluates patient information and clinic schedule lists to determine whether the patient requires an immediate appointment; informs team members about shared patients ([i.e]., those who receive their care at multiple VA centers or those who receive care in the community). Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. Candidates must demonstrate [all of] the KSAs below: 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 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. Preferred Experience: None Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. 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 mostly sedentary. There will be some periods of walking, bending, lifting or carrying of work-related items. Normal safety precautions and practices are required of working in a healthcare environment. This position requires emotional ability to deal effectively with multi-tasking and high volume of patient flow and competing demands.
VA Careers - Medical Support Assistant: https://youtube.com/embed/EE9c4XkaELo Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Duties include but are not limited to: Responds to inquiries from Veterans, Medical Center staff and other agencies regarding Veteran's entitlement to care. Utilizes his/her knowledge of Primary Care clinic procedures and processes in order to accurately schedule appointments in GUI and/or VISTA in the appropriate physician/specialty clinics in accordance with existing procedures and guidelines. Uses knowledge of Primary Care services and procedure guidelines to clearly inform our customers (orally or in writing) or be able to direct inquiries regarding services to the appropriate personnel for resolution. Promptly answers, screens, and prioritizes telephone call in a courteous and professional manner, serving as a point of contact for patients, medical center staff and other community agencies and answers telephone calls to their assigned PACT. Demonstrates proper telephone etiquette: answers phones with name, and provides location where call is answered; determines priority of inquiries and either responds to and/or routes calls to appropriate individual(s) for resolution. Meet customers' needs while operating within VA, VHA and local operating policies and guidelines. Customers include Veterans, family members, physicians, nurses, peers/co-workers, and all other medical center staff; visitors to the medical center. Effectively communicates both orally and in writing with people of various backgrounds and is responsible for accurate appointment management and the coordination of all administrative information between the professional staff, using MS Teams instant message system and Outlook. Demonstrates ability to provide clear, understandable and correct information to internal and external customers; provides and accepts written and\or oral communication to and from professional staff regarding patient concerns so that the proper resolution may be rendered for the benefit of the patient and the organization; completes written, fax, mail and phone requests to non-VA medical offices/facilities to secure patient treatment documents supporting expeditious patient continuity of care. Handles all Release of Information (ROI) requests in ROI plus system by ensuring that all records request are faxed and received back in a timely manner. All other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: 0800-1630 Monday-Friday Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade). Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year) Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience. Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child. Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66. Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement) Telework: Not available. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 91503-A