SummaryThe incumbent serves as an Advanced Medical Support Assistant in the Community Care Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) at the Hershel "Woody" Williams Medical Center in Huntington, WV. The Hershel "Woody" Williams Medical Center is an 80-bed hospital with an extensive outpatient program and active affiliation with the Marshall University School of Medicine.
DutiesHelp
VA Careers - Medical Support Assistant: https://youtube.com/embed/EE9c4XkaELo
Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional
Duties include but are not limited to:- The Advanced MSA works collaboratively in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model (i.e. PACT) and performs care coordination duties, and customer service for the proper and timely treatment of patients. Incumbent must screen/receive phone calls in a courteous and timely manner, determine the nature of requests and provide the information desired using privacy rules and established clinic processes.
- The Advance Medical Support Assistant can independently manage position responsibilities with little supervision as well as set priorities and deadlines adjusting the flow and sequencing of the work to meet team and patient needs.
- Coordinates administrative services for Veterans, family members, caregivers, and general public, administrative and clinical staff to insure continuity of inpatient and outpatient care.
- When records are received, the incumbent will ensure that all necessary health/administrative information are integrated into the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) by sending the documents to Community Care scanning staff.
- Incumbent develops and maintains effective working relationships with all clinical and administrative staff in determining priorities of activities in support of patient care. Interprets and applies a complex body of pertinent laws, regulations, directives, and policies that relate to the administration of VA Healthcare benefits. The ability to distribute and balance the workload among employees in accordance with established work flow or job specialization, assures timely accomplishment of the assigned workload and assures that each employee has enough work to keep busy.
- Directs work of Community Care employees in the absence of the supervisor. Frequent changes to VHA directives, regulations and local policies require constant coordination to ensure compliance and standardization. Incumbent may conduct special audits, studies or surveys to be utilized in the development of procedures and to assist employees in collecting complete and appropriate data for reporting processes and for generating revenue.
- Prepares a wide variety of administrative reports and documents for supervisor/Community Care. Conducts patient/employee surveys, interviews, observes workflow; guides patients through the Community Care process, inputs referrals, documents complaints, and provides follow-up and suggests resolutions to supervisor.
- Incumbent must be able to interpret and communicate requirements of VHA Scheduling Directives and complete accurate scheduling responsibilities.
- Schedules appointments in a timely and accurate manner. All appointments will be made with the patient's input. This may require a high level of coordination to avoid patients having to make multiple trips whenever possible.
- Incumbent intervenes to resolve difficult problems and diffuses potential dissatisfaction with VA services, in order, to prevent congressional and adverse publicity.
- Serves as technical advisor and liaison with contacts at all levels. Incumbent must completely understand and be able to explain complex regulations and eligibility criteria concerning Veterans entitlements and VA benefits, access to care and advanced community care access.
- The work requires the ability to work in a busy environment, multi-task, and lead to produce results, ensure compliance, as well as process and follow up on a very high volume of phone calls from patients inquiring about appointments or follow up care.
Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases.
Paid Time Off: 37-50 days of annual paid time offer per year (13-26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year)
Parental Leave: After 12 months of employment, up to 12 weeks of paid parental leave in connection with the birth, adoption, or foster care placement of a child.
Child Care Subsidy: After 60 days of employment, full time employees with a total family income below $144,000 may be eligible for a childcare subsidy up to 25% of total eligible childcare costs for eligible children up to the monthly maximum of $416.66
. Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 25006F
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
RequirementsHelp
Conditions of employment- RESUME REQUIREMENTS - Your resume MUST include the following information:
- Job Title (for each position)
- Description of duties (be as detailed as possible)
- Month and year start/end dates (e.g. June 2018 to April 2020) of employment
- Full-time or part-time status (include average hours worked per week)
- You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
- Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
- Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
- Subject to background/security investigation.
- Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued dentification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
- Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
- Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.
As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:
- your performance and conduct;
- the needs and interests of the agency;
- whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
- whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.
Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.
QualificationsApplicants pending the completion of educational or certification/licensure requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met.
Basic Requirements:
United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
Experience and Education:- Experience. 6 months experience of clerical, office, [customer service], or other [administrative] work that indicates the ability to acquire the particular knowledge and skills needed to perform the duties of the position
OR,
- Education. One year above high school;
OR,
- Experience/Education Combination. Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable
Certification: None required.
Foreign Education: To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must have been submitted to a private organization that specializes in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education must have been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. programs.
May qualify based on being covered by the Grandfathering Provision as described in the VA Qualification Standard for this occupation (only applicable to current VHA employees who are in this occupation and meet the criteria).
Grandfathering Provision. All MSAs employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series, and grade held, [which] are [a] part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements required in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply: (1) Such employees may be reassigned, promoted, or [changed to a lower grade] within the occupation. (2) Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis, until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard. (3) If an employee who was converted to [Title] 38 hybrid status under this provision leaves the occupation, the employee loses protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation.
Grade Determinations:
Advanced Medical Support Assistant GS-6 Grade Level:Experience: One year of experience equivalent to the [GS-5] grade level. Experience is defined as experience that includes, but is not limited to: scheduling, canceling, re-scheduling patient's appointments and/or consults; entering no-show information; monitoring the electronic wait list; preparing for clinic visits; monitoring both inpatient and outpatient appointments for areas of responsibility; ensuring encounter forms are completed in order to obtain appropriate workload credit; verifying and updating demographics and insurance information; processing all emergency and non-emergency transfers to other VA facilities or private hospitals; performing basic eligibility, co-pays and pre-authorization requirements for specific coverage (i.e., TRICARE, sharing agreements, etc.).
Candidates must also be able to demonstrate all of the following Knowledge, skills, and abilities for the GS-0679-6 level to qualify for this position:- Ability to collaborate and communicate with a wide range of medical clinicians across multiple disciplines (e.g. medical doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers, clinical pharmacists, and nursing staff) to accomplish team goal setting to ensure medical care to patients is met.
- Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance 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 in various formats and presenting data to various organizational levels, as well as resolving patient concerns.
- Advanced knowledge of the technical health care process (including, but not limited to, scheduling across interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery and/or care in the community models and patient health care portals) as it relates to access to care.
- Advanced knowledge of policies and procedures associated with interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery and/or care in the community operational activities that affect patient flow, and patient support care administrative functions to include, but not limited to appointment cycles, outside patient referrals, follow-up care, overbooking, provider availability, etc.
- Advanced knowledge of medical terminology and abbreviations
Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.
The full performance level of this vacancy is a GS-06. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is a GS-06.
Physical Requirements: VA Directive and Handbook 5019.Work is partially sedentary, with frequent walking, standing, bending. carrying of light items such as papers and books, or small parts. Some slight physical effort may be required. Incumbent may be susceptible to eyestrain from working long hours on the computer.
EducationNote: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.
Additional informationReceiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.
During the application process you may have an option to opt-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.
This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.
This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.
VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.
If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.
Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.
"Whole Health is an approach to health care that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their life to the fullest. The VA is committed to Whole Health and values Veteran and Employee health and wellbeing. As a VA employee, you will practice Whole Health in an environment that supports personalized and proactive care."
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Candidates should be committed to improving the efficiency of the Federal government, passionate about the ideals of our American republic, and committed to upholding the rule of law and the United States Constitution.
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