Qualifications

Applicants 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
• Citizenship
• Be a citizen of the United States (U.S.)
• Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens according to 38 U.S.C. 7407(a)
• Experience
• None
• Education
• High school diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education
• Licensure/Certification/Registration
• None
• Foreign Education
• To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must be deemed at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. program by a private organization specializing in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials
• Physical Requirements
• See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements
• English Language Proficiency
• Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. 7403(f)
• 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)
• Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements, you must meet the following grade requirements
• GS-06 Medical Support Assistant (Advanced): To qualify at this level, candidates must have one year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level
• Examples of credible experience at this level include, but are not limited to: scheduling and rescheduling patients for treatment
• interviewing patients for appointments
• referring patients to other medical specialty clinics
• providing information to patients necessary to resolve policy complaints
• interacting with both internal and external customers
• reviewing and documenting medical outpatient and inpatient electronic health records, as well as administrative records
• verifying third party insurance and updating information in we-based applications to collect and verify insurance data
• obtaining medical information from patients
• coordinating information and actions related to patient care and services
• and scheduling appointments in accordance with national scheduling guidelines
• Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs)
• In addition to the experience or education above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: 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 due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians
• 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
• Note: You must provide detailed information of your experience performed
• Information such as "I was a Medical Support Assistant" is insufficient to determine your qualifications
• Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hour worked per week
• Preferred Experience: Previous Time-Keeping experience preferred Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/
• The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-06
• The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-06
• Physical Requirements: Typically, the Advanced Medical Support Assistant must be able to operate a computer terminal and be able to manage multiple activities at one time
• Work is generally sedentary
• however, there may be some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of light items
• Work Environment: The work may be stressful due to the accelerated pace for several hours at a time during peak clinic hours or on days that have a large volume of clinic activity.