Medical Support Assistant( Advanced)

Veterans Health Administration • New Orleans, LA

6d • Onsite

About The Position

The Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) works in Specialty Care within the Medical Administration Service at the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System in New Orleans, Louisiana. The position supports specialty sections that may include Medicine, Mental Health, Surgery, and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. The employee works collaboratively with expanded health care teams and performs duties related to receiving, intake, and indexing health and administrative information, including coordinating and scheduling care in VA and community care settings.

The position is GS-06, with the full performance level and actual selection grade at GS-06. It is an in-person office/clinic role; telework and virtual work are not available. The work schedule includes multiple shifts and may change based on facility needs. Work may involve handling several tasks at once in stressful situations. Employees may be required to serve a one- or two-year trial period.

Requirements

• U.S. citizenship, subject to the stated limited exception for non-citizens when qualified citizens cannot be recruited under VA policy.
• High school diploma, GED equivalency certificate, or state- or territorial-level proficiency certificate.
• One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade for the GS-06 Advanced Medical Support Assistant grade.
• Advanced knowledge of the technical health care process as it relates to access to care, including interdisciplinary coordinated care, community care models, and patient health care portals.
• Advanced knowledge of policies and procedures for coordinated care and 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 accomplish team goals and ensure patient care needs are met.
• 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 electronically, by phone, in person, and in writing with internal and external customers; this may include preparing reports, presenting data, and resolving patient concerns.
• Proficiency in spoken and written English.
• Complete the required application steps and online assessment; meet applicable background and security requirements, onboarding requirements, and influenza vaccination requirements.
• Males born after December 31, 1959, must meet Selective Service registration requirements.
• Serve a one- or two-year trial period as a condition of employment.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate with the patient care team to review clinic utilization using various reports.
• Receive community care consults through the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS).
• Ensure the consult approval process has been addressed by the Community Care Coordination Nurse or VA provider.
• Contact veterans to identify their preferred community care provider and appointment date and time.
• Schedule the appropriate level of care in accordance with procedures and guidelines.
• Prepare required pre-appointment documents and monitor pre-appointment requirements to ensure readiness for visits or procedures.
• Verify that patients attended appointments and obtain medical documentation from community providers.
• Manage the electronic wait list, verify and validate its accuracy, and resolve issues.
• Communicate throughout the scheduling process to ensure patient, provider, and internal and external facility requirements are met.
• Validate and update patient demographic information to maintain accurate contact information.
• Schedule, reschedule, cancel, and add appointments, and record no-shows.
• Participate in team huddles and meetings to manage and plan patient care.

Benefits

• Competitive salary and regular salary increases; a higher step rate within the grade may be considered for higher or unique qualifications or special VA needs.
• 37–50 days of annual paid time off per year, including 13–26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, and 11 paid federal holidays.
• Eligible employees may receive credit toward annual leave accrual based on prior work or military service, subject to request and approval.
• Up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave after 12 months of employment for birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.
• Eligible full-time employees may qualify for a child care subsidy after 60 days of employment, subject to family-income, eligible-child, and program limits.
• Traditional federal pension, with five-year vesting, and federal 401(k) with VA contributions of up to 5%.
• Federal health, vision, dental, term life, and long-term care insurance; many federal insurance programs may be carried into retirement.

What This Job Offers

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