Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

Veterans Health Administration•Bangor, ME

8d•Onsite

About The Position

The Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) serves within various health care service lines at the VA Maine Healthcare System and provides administrative support to an assigned section. The role includes supporting clinic profile management, coordinating appointment and referral processes, maintaining patient information, and communicating with Veterans, families, patients, clinical staff, and other service partners. The position may involve shifts other than the regularly scheduled tour based on patient and facility needs. Although most shifts are scheduled during the day, some may be in the evenings or at night and may include weekends or holidays. The listed work schedule is Monday through Friday, day-shift hours to be determined. Compressed or flexible scheduling, remote work, and telework/virtual work are not authorized. The role requires accurate use of VISTA and VISTA Imaging, observance of privacy rules and established clinic processes, and courteous, timely communication with patients and callers. The incumbent supports access to care through appointment scheduling, registration, check-in, referrals, and follow-up processes, and communicates with adult and geriatric patients in a manner appropriate to their cognitive, emotional, and chronological maturation needs. This is a GS-06 Advanced Medical Support Assistant position. The full performance level is GS-06. No experience is required for the basic occupation, but the GS-06 grade determination requires qualifying experience and specified knowledge, skills, and abilities. A high school diploma or equivalent is the basic education requirement, and there is no educational substitution for the GS-06 level. The position is in the Excepted Service and is not in a bargaining unit.

Requirements

U.S. citizenship is required, subject to the stated statutory exception for non-citizens when qualified citizens cannot be recruited.
High school diploma, GED equivalency certificate, or state or territorial proficiency certificate.
Proficiency in spoken and written English.
For GS-06: one year of experience equivalent to the GS-05 level in Federal service, including clinic experience in a hospital or doctor's office with high-volume annual appointment scheduling; high-level customer service and daily communication with clinicians, patients, families, and coworkers; work resolving multiple inputs in a timely, professional manner; and experience with clinic or hospital scheduling software.
For GS-06: at least six months of clerical, office, customer service, or other administrative work indicating the ability to acquire the knowledge and skills needed for the position.
Ability to collaborate and communicate with medical clinicians across multiple disciplines to support team goals and patient care.
Ability to set priorities independently and organize work to meet deadlines and comply with established processes, policies, and regulations.
Ability to communicate tactfully and effectively by electronic means, phone, in person, and in writing with internal and external customers, including preparing reports, presenting data, and resolving patient concerns.
Advanced knowledge of technical health care processes related to access to care, including interdisciplinary coordinated care, care in the community, and patient health care portals.
Advanced knowledge of policies and procedures for coordinated care and care-in-the-community operations that affect patient flow and administrative support, including appointment cycles, outside referrals, follow-up care, overbooking, and provider availability.
Advanced knowledge of medical terminology.
Must pass a pre-employment physical evaluation or examination.
Must participate in the seasonal influenza vaccination program.
Must undergo a background and security investigation and complete the online onboarding process.
Must complete applicable pre-employment identification and application requirements.
Must serve a one- or two-year trial period, subject to the stated evaluation and written certification conditions.

Responsibilities

Support clinics with clinic profile management.
Collect and update insurance information from Veterans, family members, and other eligible patients.
Prepare correspondence and memoranda as needed.
Screen and receive phone calls courteously and promptly, determine the nature of requests, and provide requested information in accordance with privacy rules and established clinic processes.
Enter data accurately into VISTA and, when applicable, scan documents into VISTA Imaging within 24 hours of entering the data into VISTA.
Promote Veterans’ registration for and use of My HealtheVet (MHV) and kiosks.
Follow procedures for Community Care referrals.
Serve as an initial point of contact for units, clinics, patients, call centers, and Care in the Community regarding patient appointments and referrals.
Enter Veterans seeking emergent or urgent care and schedule appointments accurately.
Pre-register Veterans during check-in, use call lists, and telephone Veterans before scheduled visits.
Update patient demographic information.
Communicate and interact with patients in a manner appropriate to adult and geriatric patients’ cognitive, emotional, and chronological maturation needs.