Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

• Citizenship
• Citizen of the United States
• (Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, paragraph 3.g.)
• Experience and Education
• Experience
• Six 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
• Physical Requirements
• See VA Directive and Handbook
• English Language Proficiency
• MSAs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, paragraph 3.j
• Grade Requirements: Medical Support Assistant (Advanced), GS-6 Experience
• One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level
• Experience includes but not limited to: Advises clinical staff on current administrative processes, answering phones, greeting patients, relaying messages to appropriate staff inside or outside of the unit, scheduling appointments, including interpreting and verifying provider orders in accordance with scheduling guidelines, scheduling, canceling, re-scheduling patient appointments and/or consults
• entering no-show information
• monitoring appointment requests from multiple electronic sources, participating in huddles with other MSAs and/or clinic staff to determine the daily needs of the clinic, monitoring both inpatient and outpatient appointments, verifying and updating demographics and insurance information
• Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities
• Candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs below: i
• 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
• ii
• Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations
• iii
• 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
• iv
• 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
• v
• 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
• vi
• Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians
• 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)
• Preferred Experience: Customer service, medical terminology
• 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-6. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-6. Creditable Experience: Knowledge of MSA Practices
• To be creditable, the experience must have demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) associated with current MSA responsibilities or an equivalent administrative patient support role in a non-VA medical inpatient or outpatient setting
• Quality of Experience
• Qualifying experience must be at a level comparable to MSA experience or equivalent administrative clinical support role in a non-VA medical inpatient or outpatient setting at the next lower grade level
• Part-Time Experience
• Part-time experience as an MSA or equivalent administrative patient support in anon-VA medical inpatient or outpatient setting is creditable according to its relationship to the full-time workweek.