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The Medical Support Assistant (MSA) for the Kansas City VA Medical Center (KCVAMC) are located within Business Operations Service (BOS) and provide support to various clinics throughout the Kansas City VA Healthcare network.

Major MSA Duties include but are not limited to:

• Maintains and monitors patient appointment schedules for the facility.
• Communicates delays in scheduled appointments to the appropriate staff and patients.
• Re-schedules, cancels, processes no-shows and recall reminders.
• Types administrative notes using various automation systems and programs to accomplish work, such as text editing, maintain and retrieval use of messaging by using e-mail.
• Enters and/or retrieves information and data from the Clinical Information System. Completes consult requests through the advice of the physician with the use of Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS).
• Refers eligibility enrollment and means test when necessary to the appropriate area.
• Ensures that patients are scheduled per physical order requisition.
• Other duties as assigned.

Work Schedule: Various Tours- Days and Hours to be set by Supervisor and discussed at interview
Functional Statement: Medical Support Assistant
Telework: Not eligible
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

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
• You may be required to serve a probationary period
• Subject to a background/security investigation
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process
• Participation in the seasonal influenza and Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Vaccination programs are requirements for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP)

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet basic Requirements AND Grade Determinations listed below at the time of application.

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. 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.
• 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.

Creditable Experience:
(1) 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 a MSA or an equivalent position in a non-VA hospital or clinic setting.
(2) 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.
(3) Part-Time Experience. Part-time experience as an MSA or equivalent administrative patient support in a non-VA medical inpatient or outpatient setting is creditable according to its relationship to the full-time workweek. For example, an MSA employed 20 hours a week, or on a 1/2-time basis, would receive one full-time workweek of credit for each two weeks of service.

Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements above, candidates must the experience or education AND all of the demonstrated knowledge skills and abilities for the prospective grade listed below:

GS-3 Medical Support Assistant
Experience or Education: Candidates must meet the basic requirement for experience/education
-AND- Candidates must demonstrate all of the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) below:
i. Ability to meet, communicate, and interact with individuals in a courteous and helpful manner in order to give instructions and arrange appointments. ii. Ability to utilize computer systems to enter administrative data in patient systems.
iii. Ability to learn and utilize basic medical terminology to record patient messages and physician requests pertaining to follow-up medical care.

GS-4 Medical Support Assistant
Experience. One year of experience in 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, Two years of education above high school
-AND- Candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs below:
i. Ability to meet, communicate, and interact with individuals from varying backgrounds and other health care team members in a courteous and helpful manner in order to facilitate medical care for patients.
ii. Ability to use, and navigate between, various types of office automation equipment and software (i.e. computer systems, web-based scheduling programs; insurance collection system; scanning software, multiple line phone systems; electronic faxing programs) to support patient care.
iii. Knowledge of basic medical terminology to assist in the provision of care to patients.
iv. Skill in recording patient messages and understanding physician requests pertaining to follow-up medical care in internal or external clinics.

GS-5 Medical Support Assistant:
Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the [GS-4] grade level
OR, Four years of education above high school
-AND- Candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs below:
i. Ability to operate computerized programs and systems in order to enter, modify, and retrieve sensitive medical and patient identifying information (PII) into or from electronic health records, scheduling systems, and/or reports.
ii. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology specific to understand medical diagnosis and procedures sufficient to communicate clinical staff instructions to patients.
iii. Ability to schedule medical appointments in a clinical setting.
iv. Ability to work independently in the accomplishment of a wide variety of duties performing patient support work.
v. Ability to communicate effectively and professionally in person, electronically, and/or by telephone, with internal and external customers.
vi. Skill in customer service with the ability to identify customer concerns, and refer to the appropriate staff, as necessary, to ensure a satisfactory resolution.

References: VA HANDBOOK 5005/117 Part II Appendix G45, Medical Support Assistant Series, Revised August 1, 2019. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-05. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-03 to GS-05.

Salary:
GS-03 starts at $33,906 per annum
GS-04 starts at $34,584 per annum
GS-05 starts at $38,240 per annum

Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary. Typically, the employee sits comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking, standing, bending, carrying of light items such as papers, books and small parts, etc. No special physical demands are required to perform the work.

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, résumé, 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.