Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

Veterans Health Administration • Saint Louis, MO

8d • Onsite

About The Position

The Health Administration Service is seeking a Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) to provide specialized and expert administrative patient support while working collaboratively in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model. This role includes receptionist duties, customer service, and other assigned tasks. The 2-page resume requirement does not apply to this occupational series.

Requirements

• Must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• Must complete all required steps in the process, including an online assessment.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period.
• High school diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education.
• One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-05).
• 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.
• The work is usually sedentary, but it requires periods of walking, standing, bending, or climbing, and employees may carry light items such as books, instruments, laptops, and other similar materials.
• The work is conducted in office, conference room and clinical/hospital patient care settings.
• Typically, the work is hazard-free, not requiring any special clothing or equipment.

Nice To Haves

• For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/ .

Responsibilities

• Assists with clinic access contingency plans by scheduling appointments, adjusting appointment times, location, or dates as well as shift patients to other healthcare providers as conflict with staffing and/or coverage occurs.
• Screens and receives phone calls in a courteous and timely manner, determines the nature of requests, and provides information desired using privacy rules and established clinic processes.
• Independently manages position responsibilities with little supervision.
• Notifies supervisor when clinic access is less than desirable or if an individual patient cannot be scheduled within mandated clinic timeframes.
• Reviews active/pending consults, EWL, Recall lists, and Audiocare communications for accuracy and disposition daily.
• Interprets and applies a complex body of pertinent laws, regulations, directives, and policies that relate to the administration of VA Healthcare Benefits.
• Conducts special audits, studies, or surveys to be utilized in the development of procedures and to assist employees in collecting complete and appropriate data for reporting processes and for generating revenue.
• Generates patient workload reports for validation and monitors activity in clinical areas to assure consistent and accurate reporting.
• Performs difficult and responsible 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.
• Utilizes 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 (utilization) to ensure that clinic schedules are closely monitored to effectively support the needs of the clinics, and makes adjustments as necessary.
• Develops and/or maintains 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; manage a system for follow-up care such as consults, tests, etc.).
• 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.
• Sets 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.
• 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).

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).
• A career with the U.S. government provides employees with a comprehensive benefits package.
• As a federal employee, you and your family will have access to a range of benefits that are designed to make your federal career very rewarding.

What This Job Offers

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