Supervisory Medical Support Assistant

Veterans Health Administration•Palo Alto, CA

7d•Onsite

About The Position

The Supervisory Medical Support Assistant (MSA) is the operational leader for outpatient scheduling programs in the Health System Area (HSA) 5.2 and 5.5 Specialty Care Clinical Resource Hub (Specialty CRH) at the VA Palo Alto HealthCare System. The position works with the health care team and provides technical and administrative direction to GS-7 Lead MSAs and GS-6 AMSAs, guiding, assisting, and counseling staff to ensure effective day-to-day clinic operations. The role oversees Specialty CRH administrative operations, including consults, clinic profiles, appointments, encounter documentation, worksheets, schedules, patient and staff requests, follow-up care tracking, and accurate workload data and reporting. It also interprets administrative and clinical policies and procedures, supports coordination of care with other sites and non-VA facilities, and participates in interdisciplinary planning and process improvement. The supervisor has line authority for administrative management and guidance of subordinate staff, including work assignments, schedules, staffing, performance standards and evaluations, discipline, timekeeping, recruitment and hiring, staff development, and labor-management matters. The position is full-time, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; the schedule may change to meet agency needs. Telework is not available, and this is not a virtual position.

Requirements

U.S. citizenship, subject to the stated VA exception for non-citizens when qualified citizens cannot be recruited.
Proficiency in spoken and written English.
At least six months of clerical, office, customer service, or other administrative experience indicating the ability to acquire the required knowledge and skills; or a high school diploma, GED, or state or territorial proficiency certificate; or an equivalent combination of education and experience. The announcement also describes a grandfathering provision for qualifying current VHA employees.
One year of experience equivalent to the GS-7 level, including workload assessment, work assignment and staffing coverage, training-record evaluation and training-needs assessment, support for complex procedures and clinical flow, accurate and timely appointment scheduling, staff guidance on policy and procedure changes, schedule maintenance, and liaison work to resolve day-to-day conflicts.
Advanced knowledge of managing or leading patient-support staff in a clinic, including independent use of reference sources, decision-making, and enabling team problem-solving in a complex systems environment.
Ability to provide administrative and supervisory duties for at least one subordinate MSA supervisor or team leader, including work assignment, performance evaluations, staff selection, and recommendations for awards or advancement.
Ability to collaborate, communicate, and demonstrate customer-service and interpersonal skills with internal and external customers to support quality and continuity of care and compliance with policies and regulations.
Ability to provide briefings, orientations, staff development, and training in a patient-support setting.
Ability to manage fiscal matters, forecast resource and equipment needs, and identify budget needs.
Must meet VA pre-employment requirements, including background/security investigation and onboarding requirements; seasonal influenza vaccination is required for VA Health Care Personnel.
Must serve a one- or two-year trial period, subject to the terms described in the announcement.
Must meet applicable education-recognition requirements if using education to qualify; foreign education requires a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with transcripts.

Nice To Haves

Clinical Resource Hub experience.

Responsibilities

Direct outpatient medical administration programs and supervise assignments and staff.
Extract and analyze data and prepare reports supporting performance measures for senior management.
Coordinate communications and care with other HSA 5.2 and 5.5 sites and non-VA medical offices and facilities.
Participate in secure messaging with patients and the care team, notify patients of normal lab results, and develop and manage tracking for required follow-up care.
Supervise staff in an interdisciplinary environment and address competing clinical-team needs.
Ensure Specialty CRH program responsibilities are completed, including managing consults, clinic profiles, appointments, encounter forms, worksheets, and clinic schedules.
Ensure staff respond effectively to requests from patients, family members, clinical staff, and support staff.
Interpret, analyze, and inform the health care team about administrative and clinical issues, regulations, policies, and procedures.
Orient new team members to clinic administrative processes, workflow, and data-capture requirements.
Participate in interdisciplinary work groups and committees to incorporate clinic and service goals into facility planning.
Participate in process-improvement activities consistent with the Service Improvement Model.
Lead the integrity and accuracy of data capture and statistical reporting in VISTA, OBA, and VSSC systems.
Identify workload and correct errors that cause Patient Care Encounter workload rejection due to insufficient or inaccurate data.
Provide administrative management and guidance to GS-6 AMSAs and GS-7 Lead MSAs, including authority over discipline and timekeeping of frontline staff.
Represent management at labor-management meetings, provide information, resolve issues, and ensure management officials understand the negotiated agreement.
Prepare work schedules, ensure adequate staffing, adjust staffing to workload and priorities, and recommend organizational changes to improve staff utilization.
Develop subordinate staff through coaching, mentoring, feedback, and formal and informal learning opportunities.
Work with Human Resources throughout recruiting and hiring to fill vacancies and select qualified employees.
Issue performance standards, rate staff, and communicate performance ratings in a timely manner.
Oversee clerical staff scheduling of appointments in accordance with National and Local Scheduling Directives.
Perform other related duties as assigned.