Medical Support Assistant (Primary Care)

Veterans Health Administration•Caldwell, ID

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The VA Boise Healthcare System is hiring Medical Support Assistants at the GS-3, GS-4, and GS-5 levels for the Caldwell, Idaho Community Based Outpatient Clinic. Medical Support Assistants provide administrative support to clinical colleagues and help deliver timely, accurate, and accessible health care to Veterans. At the GS-3 entry level, the MSA receives frequent guidance from experienced staff while interacting with customers, maintaining medical charts and administrative records, verifying insurance information, obtaining patient information, coordinating care-related actions, and scheduling appointments under VHA guidelines. At the GS-4 developmental level, duties are similar, with guidance for more difficult tasks and frequent contact with a lead or supervisor. The MSA refers questions requiring immediate medical attention to an appropriate health care team member. At the GS-5 full-performance level, the MSA independently handles appointment and consult scheduling, including interpreting and verifying provider orders. Duties include managing appointment changes and no-shows, monitoring wait lists and appointments, preparing for clinic visits, ensuring encounter forms are completed, updating demographic and insurance information, processing transfers, and handling basic eligibility, copayment, and preauthorization requirements. The work schedule is Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Telework is not available, and this is not a virtual position. Relocation and recruitment incentives and permanent change of station are not authorized.

Requirements

U.S. citizenship is required, subject to the stated VA policy exception for non-citizens when qualified citizens cannot be recruited.
Proficiency in written and spoken English.
High school diploma, GED, or qualifying proficiency certificate, unless covered by the applicable grandfathering provision.
GS-3: No experience or education beyond the basic requirements.
GS-4: One year of creditable experience equivalent to GS-3, or one year of education above high school.
GS-4: Ability to communicate and interact courteously with people from varied backgrounds and health care team members.
GS-4: Ability to use office automation equipment and software, including computer systems, web-based scheduling programs, insurance collection systems, scanning software, multiple-line phone systems, and electronic fax programs.
GS-4: Knowledge of basic medical terminology and skill in recording patient messages and understanding physician requests about follow-up care.
GS-5: One year of experience equivalent to GS-4, or two years of education above high school.
GS-5: Ability to operate computerized programs and systems to enter, modify, and retrieve sensitive medical and patient-identifying information in electronic health records, scheduling systems, and reports.
GS-5: Advanced knowledge of basic medical terminology sufficient to understand diagnoses and procedures and communicate clinical staff instructions to patients.
GS-5: Ability to schedule medical appointments in a clinical setting and work independently on a wide variety of patient support duties.
GS-5: Ability to communicate effectively and professionally in person, electronically, and by telephone.
GS-5: Customer-service skill, including identifying customer concerns and referring them to appropriate staff for resolution.
Subject to a background and security investigation.
Selected applicants must complete the online onboarding process and provide acceptable identification for pre-employment requirements.
Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is required for VA health care personnel.
Must complete the required application steps, including the online assessment and required documents.
Must serve a one- or two-year trial period.

Responsibilities

Interact courteously with internal and external customers and health care team members.
Establish and maintain medical outpatient and inpatient charts and administrative records.
Verify third-party insurance and update information in the Insurance Capture Buffer system.
Obtain medical information from patients and coordinate information and actions related to patient care and services.
Schedule appointments in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines.
Refer questions requiring immediate medical attention to an appropriate health care team member.
Schedule, cancel, and reschedule patient appointments and consults, including interpreting and verifying provider orders at the GS-5 level.
Enter no-show information and monitor the electronic wait list and inpatient and outpatient appointments for assigned areas.
Prepare for clinic visits and ensure encounter forms are completed to obtain appropriate workload credit.
Verify and update demographic and insurance information.
Process emergency and non-emergency transfers to other VA facilities or private hospitals.
Perform basic eligibility, copayment, and preauthorization checks for specific coverage.