Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

Veterans Health Administration • Iron Mountain, MI

13d • Onsite

About The Position

The incumbent serves as an Advanced Medical Support Assistant in the VA Care Community Section (VACC) at the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center in Iron Mountain, Michigan, under Nursing and Patient Care Service. The role supports the administrative aspects of patient care, including access, appointment scheduling and coordination using advanced clinic access principles, collecting and updating demographic and insurance information, and customer service.

The Advanced MSA works collaboratively in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model, providing administrative support to clinicians and other staff to coordinate patient care. The position manages appointment and diagnostic-testing coordination, community-care authorizations and correspondence, and communication among Veterans, VA staff, and external providers. The incumbent uses HSRM and VISTA to manage appointment coordination and authorizations in accordance with the Office of Integrated Veteran Care Field Guidebook, and performs other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• 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) for the GS-06 Advanced Medical Support Assistant grade.
• Advanced knowledge of the technical health care process, including scheduling in interdisciplinary coordinated care or community-care models and patient health care portals, as it relates to access to care.
• Advanced knowledge of policies and procedures for coordinated care or community-care operations 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 medical clinicians across multiple disciplines to support team goals and patient care.
• 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 with internal and external customers electronically, by phone, in person, and in writing; this may include preparing reports, presenting data, and resolving patient concerns.
• Proficiency in spoken and written English.
• United States citizenship, except where appointment of a non-citizen is permitted under VA policy when qualified citizens cannot be recruited.
• Pass a pre-employment physical evaluation and background/security investigation.
• Complete required application and onboarding processes and participate in the seasonal influenza vaccination program.
• Serve a one- or two-year trial period, subject to written certification for continued employment.

Responsibilities

• Provide administrative support to clinicians and other administrative and professional staff to coordinate patient care.
• Schedule and coordinate appointments for diagnostic testing and consultative appointments across clinical services.
• Receive phone calls courteously and promptly, determine the nature of requests, and provide information in accordance with privacy rules and established processes.
• Explain procedures to Veterans and their families in person and by phone.
• Independently manage responsibilities, set priorities and deadlines, and adjust work sequencing to meet team and patient needs.
• Generate authorizations for pre-authorized outpatient, unauthorized, and emergency care claims, and make eligibility determinations for VACC programs.
• Coordinate with utilization review to ensure appropriate authorizations are issued and correspondence is sent to vendors.
• Act as a liaison between Veterans, vendors, the VACC section, and VA clinical services.
• Obtain requested reports, X-rays, laboratory results, and other information needed to complete VACC Coordination consults in CPRS.
• Ensure required components and documentation are distributed to the appropriate services at private institutions where care will be provided.
• Prioritize requested procedures based on urgency.
• Maintain an Excel directory of institution and contact-person names, addresses, phone numbers, and fax numbers.
• Generate correspondence to Veterans and providers and manage correspondence received regarding Community Care.
• Provide advisory and technical assistance to Veterans and staff, answer questions, identify needs or complaints, and provide information in complex or atypical situations.
• Use HSRM and VISTA to manage and coordinate appointment management and create authorizations in accordance with the Office of Integrated Veteran Care Field Guidebook.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Annual paid leave of 13–26 days, 13 days of sick leave, and 11 paid federal holidays per year.
• Up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave after 12 months of employment, in connection with birth, adoption, or foster-care placement of a child.
• Eligible full-time employees with total family income below $144,000 may receive a child-care subsidy of up to 25% of eligible child-care costs, subject to a monthly maximum of $416.66 and other eligibility conditions.
• Traditional federal pension with five-year vesting.
• Federal 401(k) with up to 5% in VA contributions.
• Federal health, vision, dental, term-life, and long-term-care insurance; many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement.
• Competitive salary and regular salary increases; a higher step rate may be considered based on higher or unique qualifications or VA special needs.

What This Job Offers

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