Lead Medical Support Assistant (Call Center)

Veterans Health Administration•San Bruno, CA

12h•Onsite

About The Position

The Lead Medical Support Assistant (Lead MSA) provides specialized administrative patient support within an inter-professional coordinated care delivery model. The role uses administrative judgment and knowledge of clinical flow processes to support access to care across multiple clinics, specialties, and community-care resources. The position is not remote or telework eligible. The Lead MSA works with VA programs, services, and care teams to help Veterans access care through telephone calls, secure messaging, chat, text messaging, and video. The position handles incoming and outgoing contacts, schedules and manages appointments and consults, processes refill requests, gathers patient information, maintains accurate records, and provides organizational information and customer service to Veterans and their families or caregivers. The Lead MSA also supports daily call-center operations, coordinates workflow and staffing, guides and trains staff, and helps resolve complex or non-standard administrative issues. The role requires tactful communication with challenging customers, appropriate escalation of symptomatic concerns to clinicians, and independent routing of contacts to the proper area. The Lead MSA uses advanced patient systems, software, hardware, and data portals to capture and transfer information and to ensure efficient, prioritized scheduling and clinic readiness. The position is full-time, with a Monday–Friday schedule and hours that vary based on needs.

Requirements

U.S. citizenship, subject to the stated exception for non-citizens when qualified citizens cannot be recruited under applicable law.
High school diploma, GED equivalency certificate, or state/territorial proficiency certificate.
Proficiency in spoken and written English.
One year of experience equivalent to the GS-06 grade level for the GS-07 position; no experience is required for the basic Medical Support Assistant qualification.
Advanced knowledge of medical terminology and clinical flow processes relating to access to care across multiple clinics, specialties, and/or community resources.
Skill communicating to obtain desired outcomes and coordinating with interdisciplinary care-team staff.
Ability to use numerous advanced patient systems in support of multiple clinics in an interdisciplinary setting.
Ability to organize work, set priorities, and delegate tasks and responsibilities to meet deadlines.
Ability to provide staff development and training.
Ability to manage staffing requirements and workflow priorities and adjust work flow to meet team and patient needs, including following up on pending issues and understanding the impact of incomplete work across clinics.
Must complete the required application steps and online assessment.
Subject to background and security investigation and required onboarding procedures.
Must meet Selective Service registration requirements, if applicable.
Must participate in the seasonal influenza vaccination program as a VA health care personnel requirement.
Must serve a one- or two-year trial period, as applicable.
Physical demands may include standing, lifting, carrying, sitting, stooping, bending, pulling, and pushing; may require personal protective equipment and annual TB screening or testing.

Nice To Haves

Call center experience preferred.

Responsibilities

Coordinate advanced MSA assignments and workflow in an interdisciplinary unit, including daily workload assessments, work assignments, and staffing coverage.
Evaluate staff training records, determine training needs, and provide staff guidance and development.
Assist with complex and non-standard administrative procedures and clinical flow processes related to access to care across clinics, specialties, and community resources.
Ensure accurate and timely scheduling of appointments; schedule, cancel, and reschedule appointments and consults, including return-to-clinic appointments.
Answer telephone calls, secure messages, and chat messages; greet patients; relay messages; and handle incoming and outgoing contacts through available modalities, including text and video.
Monitor appointment requests from multiple electronic sources and outpatient appointments in assigned areas.
Gather medical information from patients, process medication refill requests, review electronic health records, and verify and update patient demographics.
Verify and interpret provider orders in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines.
Participate in staff huddles to determine daily Ambulatory Care Call Center needs.
Manage patient systems to verify and validate accuracy, resolve issues, and evaluate patient information and clinic schedules to determine whether an immediate appointment is needed.
Inform interdisciplinary team members about shared patients receiving care at multiple VA centers or in the community.
Communicate with patients, interdisciplinary care teams, VA medical centers, other agencies, and non-VA medical facilities.
Recommend changes to clinic procedures based on current administrative guidelines.
Provide information and resolution to Veterans’ requests within scope; escalate symptomatic concerns to clinicians or route contacts to the appropriate discipline.
Resolve day-to-day conflicts among staff, patients, and interdisciplinary colleagues; follow up on pending issues and adjust workflow priorities to meet team and patient needs.
Provide accurate information about VA services and high-quality customer service to Veterans and their families or caregivers.
Communicate tactfully and effectively with challenging, threatening, abusive, or distraught customers and resolve complaints as appropriate.
Use software, hardware, data portals, computerized interfaces, and telecommunications equipment to support daily unit operations.
Perform other duties as assigned.