Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

Veterans Health Administration • Santa Ana, CA

7d • Onsite

About The Position

The Long Beach VA Health Care System’s Health Administration Service is recruiting one Advanced Medical Support Assistant for the Santa Ana Clinic. The Advanced MSA provides specialized administrative support to patients and works collaboratively with interdisciplinary care teams. The role uses administrative judgment and clinical-flow processes to support access to care across clinics, specialties, and community-care resources. The incumbent monitors clinic schedules and appointment availability, adjusts schedules as needed, and helps ensure effective communication among patients, care teams, VA medical centers, and other agencies.

The position is full performance level GS-6. The work schedule is Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Compressed or flexible scheduling, telework, and virtual work are not authorized. The role is based at the Santa Ana Clinic.

Requirements

• U.S. citizenship, except where appointment of a non-citizen is permitted under VA policy when qualified citizens cannot be recruited.
• Proficiency in spoken and written English.
• High school diploma or equivalent; a diploma or transcript is required if no education beyond high school is claimed.
• For GS-6 qualification, one year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 level, unless qualifying under the applicable grandfathering provision.
• Advanced knowledge of technical health care processes related to access to care, including scheduling across interdisciplinary 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 medical clinicians across multiple disciplines to accomplish team goals and meet patient care needs.
• Ability to set priorities and organize work independently to meet deadlines and comply with 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.
• Must complete the required application steps and online assessment.
• Subject to background and security investigation and completion of online onboarding and pre-employment identification requirements.
• Participation in the VA seasonal influenza vaccination program is required.
• May be required to serve a one- or two-year trial period.
• Foreign education used to qualify must be evaluated as equivalent to U.S. education by an appropriate credential evaluation organization; applicable foreign-education documentation is required.

Nice To Haves

• Current VHA employees in this occupation may qualify under the applicable grandfathering provision.
• Experience coordinating care across multiple clinics, specialties, or community-care resources is relevant to the assignment.

Responsibilities

• Schedule, cancel, and reschedule patient appointments and consults; enter no-show information and monitor electronic wait lists.
• Prepare for clinic visits and maintain medical outpatient and inpatient charts and administrative records.
• Monitor inpatient and outpatient appointments for assigned areas and obtain medical information from patients.
• Coordinate information and actions related to patient care and services.
• Ensure encounter forms are completed to obtain appropriate workload credit.
• Verify and update patient demographic and insurance information.
• Monitor interdisciplinary team setup, including consult categories of care, and make adjustments to support clinic needs.
• Work with the care team to reinforce the plan of care and self-help solutions.
• Manage consult metrics to verify and validate accuracy and resolve issues.
• Participate in team meetings and contribute to problem-solving on operational issues and procedures.
• Collaborate with care teams to review appointment availability and adjust clinic schedules as needed.
• Communicate with patients, interdisciplinary teams, VA medical centers, and other agencies, including coordinating communications related to inpatient-to-outpatient discharge and non-VA facilities.
• Process incoming patient secure messages through MyHealthyVet and coordinate with the care team as appropriate.
• Participate in team huddles and meetings to manage, plan, problem-solve, and follow up on patient care.
• Identify incomplete encounters and communicate findings to providers.
• Enter appropriate information into the electronic record and monitor pre-appointment information and requirements.
• Evaluate patient information and clinic schedule lists to determine whether patients need immediate appointments.
• Inform team members about shared patients receiving care at multiple VA centers or through community care.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Federal employee benefits package; eligibility and specific benefits depend on appointment type and other factors.
• Prior qualifying federal or military service may be credited toward annual leave accrual if requested and approved before appointment.

What This Job Offers

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