Advanced Medical Support Assistant

Veterans Health Administration • East Orange, NJ

9d • Onsite

About The Position

The VA New Jersey Health Care System is currently recruiting for an Advanced Medical Support Assistant assigned to the Specialty Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) for the Medical Administration Service (MAS) of the VA New Jersey Healthcare System (VANJHS). The VANJHS is comprised of two comprehensive healthcare facilities in East Orange and Lyons, and eleven Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs) located throughout the state.

Requirements

• Must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process.
• Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements ( https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents ).
• Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Must pass pre-employment physical evaluation.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.
• As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest.
• 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.
• English Language Proficiency: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).
• Experience: None.
• Education: High school diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education.
• Foreign Education: To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must be deemed at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. program by a private organization specializing in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials.
• Licensure/Certification/Registration: None.
• one year of creditable experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of creditable experience would typically include, but are not limited to: scheduling, canceling, and rescheduling patient appointments and/or consults; entering no-show information; monitoring appointment requests from multiple electronic sources; participating in huddles with other MSAs and/or clinic staff to determine the daily needs of the clinic; monitoring both inpatient and outpatient appointments in areas of responsibility; and verifying and updating demographics and insurance information when patients check-in for appointments.
• Coordinates administrative functions relating to emergency and non-emergency transfers to other VA facilities or private hospitals, and determines appointment type based on the patient's eligibility status (i.e., TRICARE, sharing agreements, collaterals, research patient, VA employee, etc.).
• 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.
• 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.

Responsibilities

• Participates in daily team meetings where the PACT team consisting of a provider (MD, NP, and/or PA), registered nurse care manager, and an MSA review individual patient requirements and formulates a plan for delivering the optimal level of care in the appropriate setting.
• Engages proactively with Veterans through multiple avenues to include MyHealtheVet (secure messaging), VetLink, VAOS, recall system or in person.
• Educates other members of the care team about scheduling protocol.
• Provides information to and receives patients reporting for scheduled and unscheduled visits.
• Processes and directs patients in an expedient and efficient manner.
• Incumbent is also required to administratively screen all Veterans to determine the nature of medical problems and provide administrative assistance as required.
• The Advanced MSA coordinates with team members to review clinic utilization and ensures that the clinic setup is closely monitored to effectively support the needs of the clinic, making necessary adjustments as needed.
• Develops/maintains effective and efficient communication with the patient, interdisciplinary team, VA medical centers, and other agencies.
• Maintains effective communication with patients, care teams, VA medical centers, and outside agencies to support continuity of care.
• Processes secure messaging requests from the patient to the team; notifying patients of normal lab results; developing and managing a tracking system for follow up care such as consults, tests, etc.
• Tracks follow-up care (e.g., consults, tests); monitors pre-appointment readiness (e.g., X-ray, labs, EKG).
• Participates in daily huddles and weekly meetings to plan care and adjust workflow.
• Reinforces care plans and self-help solutions; documents in the electronic record.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and regular salary increases
• 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)
• 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.
• 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 .
• Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
• Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Part-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Education Level: High school or GED