Supervisory Medical Support Assistant

Veterans Health Administration • Long Beach, CA

4d • Onsite

About The Position

The Long Beach VA Health Care System’s Health Administration Service is recruiting a Supervisory Medical Support Assistant for the Mental Health Clinic. The position plans and directs administrative patient-support programs and supervises at least one subordinate MSA team leader, supervisor, or equivalent administrative patient-support staff member. The role includes responsibility for directing staff activities, evaluating staff work and performance, resolving complex service issues, supporting hiring and disciplinary decisions, identifying training needs, and reporting operational data to senior management.

The position supports outpatient and inpatient clinic operations, including appointment and consult scheduling, patient records, encounter documentation, demographic and insurance information, wait lists, and consult metrics. The work schedule is 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Compressed or flexible scheduling, telework, and virtual work are not authorized. The full-performance grade and vacancy grade are GS-8.

Requirements

• U.S. citizenship, subject to the stated VA policy exception for non-citizens when qualified citizens cannot be recruited.
• Proficiency in spoken and written English.
• Six months of clerical, office, customer service, or other administrative experience demonstrating ability to acquire the required knowledge and skills; or a high school diploma; or an equivalent combination of education and experience. Applicable VHA employees may qualify under the grandfathering provision.
• For GS-8, one year of experience equivalent to GS-7 leading or supervising MSAs or equivalent administrative patient-support staff in a non-VA medical inpatient, outpatient, or interdisciplinary setting.
• Ability to perform the full range of 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 ensure 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.
• Advanced knowledge of managing or leading patient-support staff in a clinic, including independent use of reference sources, decision-making, and enabling teams to collaborate and resolve problems in a complex systems environment.
• Must complete the required application steps and online assessment; meet background and security requirements; complete online onboarding; and provide acceptable identification for pre-employment requirements.
• Must participate in the VA seasonal influenza vaccination program.
• May be required to serve a one-year trial period.
• Foreign education used to qualify must be evaluated as equivalent to U.S. education by an appropriate credential-evaluation organization. Education must be from an institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education; foreign education requires a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with transcripts.
• Physical demands include moderate lifting of 15–44 pounds, light carrying under 15 pounds, reaching above the shoulder, use of fingers, walking up to one hour, and hearing (hearing aids permitted).

Responsibilities

• Schedule, cancel, and reschedule patient appointments and consults.
• Enter no-show information and monitor electronic wait lists.
• Prepare for clinic visits and establish and maintain medical outpatient and inpatient charts and administrative records.
• Monitor inpatient and outpatient appointments for areas of responsibility.
• Obtain medical information from patients and 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 the Interdisciplinary Team setup, including consult category of care, and make necessary adjustments to support clinic needs.
• Work with the team to reinforce plans of care and self-help solutions.
• Manage consult metrics to verify and validate accuracy and resolve issues.
• Participate in team meetings and provide input on operational problems and procedures.
• Plan and direct subordinate patient-support staff activities and evaluate their work and performance.
• Resolve complex problems to ensure patient services are met; evaluate new products, equipment, and systems and recommend operational improvements.
• Identify staff educational and training needs; provide briefings, orientations, staff development, and training.
• Make final hiring selections, evaluate performance, and take disciplinary action when necessary.
• Manage fiscal matters, forecast resource and equipment needs, and identify budget needs.
• Extract and analyze data and provide reports to senior management to support tracking measures.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Federal employees and their families have access to a comprehensive benefits package; specific eligibility depends on position type.
• Selected applicants may qualify for approved credit toward annual leave accrual based on prior work or military service.

What This Job Offers

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