Advanced Medical Support Assistant

Veterans Health Administration•Fort Stockton, TX

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Advanced Medical Support Assistant (AMSA) works in the Health Administration Service at the Ft. Stockton CBOC, supporting administrative aspects of patient care. The role supports access to care, appointment scheduling and coordination, demographic and insurance updates, consult scheduling, patient processing, and customer service. The AMSA works collaboratively within an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model, including PACT, and maintains appointment schedules for one or more outpatient clinics. The position requires applying advanced clinic access principles and VHA scheduling directives, coordinating with care teams, managing high volumes of patient inquiries, and adjusting schedules when staffing or coverage changes. The incumbent helps patients and families navigate VA services, handles concerns sensitively, supports accurate reporting and quality assurance, and serves as a technical advisor and liaison. The work is on-site, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; telework is unavailable. At the advanced level, the AMSA exercises administrative judgment across multiple clinics and care models. Duties include reviewing clinic availability, coordinating follow-up care, maintaining patient systems and records, participating in team meetings, prioritizing work, identifying incomplete encounters, and communicating with patients, care teams, VA facilities, and outside agencies.

Requirements

U.S. citizenship, subject to the stated exception under VA policy for non-citizens when qualified citizens cannot be recruited.
High school diploma, GED equivalency certificate, or state or territorial proficiency certificate.
Proficiency in spoken and written English.
One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-05) for the advanced-level grade determination.
Advanced knowledge of the technical health care process related to access to care, including scheduling across interdisciplinary care and community-care models and patient health care portals.
Advanced knowledge of policies and procedures affecting patient flow and administrative support, including appointment cycles, outside referrals, follow-up care, overbooking, and provider availability.
Advanced knowledge of medical terminology.
Ability to collaborate and communicate with clinicians across multiple disciplines to accomplish team goals and meet patient care needs.
Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines while complying with established processes, policies, and regulations.
Ability to communicate tactfully and effectively by electronic means, phone, in person, and in writing with internal and external customers; prepare reports and present data; and resolve patient concerns.
Complete the required application steps, questionnaire, and online assessment.
Meet background and security investigation requirements and complete the online onboarding process.
Register for Selective Service if applicable to males born after December 31, 1959.
Participate in the seasonal influenza vaccination program as a VA health care personnel requirement.
Serve a one- or two-year trial period, subject to the conditions described in the announcement.

Nice To Haves

Experience working in a clerical or administrative office.
Experience scheduling in an appointment system or calendar.
Ability to communicate with and provide customer service to a wide variety of people.
Ability to multitask using multiple systems.

Responsibilities

Perform receptionist, customer service, patient-processing, and other administrative duties supporting timely patient care.
Maintain appointment schedules for one or more outpatient clinics and schedule appointments with patient input, in person or by phone.
Apply advanced clinic access principles and interpret VHA scheduling directives and requirements.
Adjust appointment times, locations, or dates and shift patients to other providers when staffing or coverage conflicts occur.
Screen and respond to phone calls courteously and promptly, determine the nature of requests, and provide information in accordance with privacy rules and clinic processes.
Collect and update demographic and insurance information and schedule consults.
Generate patient workload reports, validate data, and monitor clinical-area activity for accurate reporting.
Organize and implement quality assurance monitoring and prepare administrative reports and documents for the supervisor and Health Administration Service.
Conduct patient and employee surveys and interviews, observe workflow, guide patients through the hospital system, and document complaints and follow-up actions.
Enter medication refill requests for provider signature and suggest complaint resolutions to the supervisor.
Resolve difficult problems and diffuse potential dissatisfaction with VA services.
Explain Veterans' entitlements, benefits, eligibility criteria, care priorities, and access-to-care processes.
Perform varied duties of Program Support Assistants (Care Facilitators) and Medical Support Assistants across clinical areas, including some off-campus or irregular-tour locations.
Organize and lead work across multiple areas, set priorities and deadlines, and manage high volumes of phone calls and written requests about appointments and wait-list status.
Coordinate with care teams to review clinic appointment availability and make schedule adjustments as needed.
Develop and maintain communication with patients, interdisciplinary teams, VA medical centers, and other agencies, including coordination of inpatient-to-outpatient discharge communications and non-VA facility communications.
Process incoming patient secure messages through MyHealtheVet and coordinate with the care team as appropriate.
Participate in team huddles and meetings to plan, problem-solve, share information, and follow up on patient care.
Identify incomplete encounters and communicate findings to providers; enter appropriate information into the electronic record.
Monitor pre-appointment information and requirements, verify and validate patient-system data, and resolve issues.
Evaluate patient information and clinic schedules to determine whether immediate appointments are needed.
Inform team members about shared patients receiving care at multiple VA centers or in the community.