Clarification from the agency

This position is open to current, permanent employees of the VA New York Harbor HCS.

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Major duties and responsibilities include:

• Screens incoming telephone calls and takes accurate messages, along with information from patients, and relays them to the appropriate staff.
• Greets all patients, staff, and visitors coming to the office and screens the visits handling any inquiries that do not require the attention of either the Chief or the Administrative Officer.
• Types and distributes a variety of correspondence, reports, forms, and minutes to the Neurology staff as per request from the Chief or Administrative Officer and prepares any needed forms. (i.e. Form SF-52 "Request for Personnel Actions", travel forms, work orders, etc.)
• Prepares and collects all relevant material in preparation for the Chiefs scheduled meetings and conferences and arranges travel, accommodation reservations, and prepares requisitions for travel for the Chief and Administrative Officer.
• Maintains accurate and current Service Record files on all employees, ensure administrative files within Neurology are maintained in accordance with RCS directives.
• Handles initial complaint and conflict resolution between Veterans and the Service. If the incumbent is not able to resolve the issue(s) he/she would escalate it to either the Chief of Service or Administrative Officer
• Set priorities for appointments, conferences, meetings, and deadlines on reports for the Chief and Administrative Officer.
• Receives, screens, and sorts of mail addressed to the Neurology Service. He/she distributes mail to appropriate staff members. Prepares replies to correspondence involving routine, non-technical operations of the Neurology Service. Assembles relevant background material for correspondence requiring the Chiefs or Administrative Officer's attention.
• Functions as Timekeeper, TMS Coordinator, and Purchase Cardholder for Neurology Service Brooklyn. Picks up and distributes T&L statements.
• The incumbent is responsible for scheduling appointments, including interpreting and verifying provider orders in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines. Schedules outpatient consultations in VISTA and sends appointment letters or calls patients with appointment date. Responsible for distributing inpatient consults to the neurology staff on a rotating basis, and for keeping a record of this distribution for future reference. Determines if the appointment can be made based on departmental guidelines.
• Prints out Consult Tracking Reports and Encounter Action Required Reports for the Neurology Service weekly and distribute to responsible providers for action.
• Monitor patient readiness prior to procedure/appointment by ensuring the necessary medical findings are in place prior to patient seeing the physician.
• Verify funds availability prior to making purchase and complying with single purchase and monthly cardholder limits placed on the card.
• Input order into 1 FCAP to include correct control point, cost center, and budget object class for that transaction.
• Reconciling (matching) payment charge from Purchase Card Program Contractor within the following time frames, minimum of 75% of the reconciliations within 10 days, 95% of the reconciliations within 17 days and all (100%) of the reconciliations within 30 days. Reconciling (matching) charges within tolerance as established by the Financial Service Center (currently 100 percent).
• Ensuring receipt of the goods ordered. Providing Approving Official applicable receipt records to enable certification of payment. If items have been billed and not received, a printout of IFCAP order will be used.
• Maintaining appropriate receipt records (packing slip, receipt, cash register slip, or sales slip) in accordance with VA Manual MP-4, Part X, Item No. 5-1c. These records will be maintained by Purchase Card Order number.
• Resolving disputes with vendor, if unable to resolve, then disputing with Purchase Card Program Contractor. Sales tax and transportation charges are only disputable with the vendor.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8a-4:30p
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not authorized
Telework: Not available.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 21L37-O

Conditions of employment

• 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.
• You may be required to serve a probationary period.
• 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).

Qualifications

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 must be thoroughly documented in your resume to receive credit for experience. Transcripts must be submitted in order to receive credit for 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 the entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable.
• 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.

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).

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. Experience satisfying this requirement may be paid/non-paid employment as an MSA or an equivalent position in a non-VA hospital or clinic 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. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity (difficulty), and a range of varieties as described in this standard, at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time.

Grade Determinations for Advanced Medical Support Assistant, GS-6: In addition to the basic requirements for employment listed above, the following experience and required KSAs must be met when determining the grade of candidates.

Experience: Must have one (1) year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level, performing duties including but not limited to: independently perform a full range of duties related to the delivery of healthcare services in an inpatient or outpatient setting. 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 in areas of responsibility; verifying and updating demographics and insurance information when patients check-in for appointments. Coordinates administrative functions relating to emergency and non-emergency transfers. AND;

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. Candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs below:

• 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.
• 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.

Preferred Experience: Experience working in a Neurology Clinic

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.

Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.