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Medical Support Assistant - 2B Inpatient Mental Health

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
William S. Middleton Veterans Hospital

Summary

This position serves as a Medical Support Assistant within Inpatient Nursing Service..



Overview

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Accepting applications
Open & closing dates
03/16/2026 to 03/23/2026
Salary
$40,401 to - $63,434 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 3 - 5
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Madison, WI
1 vacancy
Remote job
No
Telework eligible
No
Travel Required
Not required
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Appointment type
Permanent
Work schedule
Full-time - M-F, AM Tour
Service
Excepted
Promotion potential
5
Supervisory status
No
Security clearance
Not Required
Drug test
No
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Trust determination process
Financial disclosure
No
Bargaining unit status
No
Announcement number
MA-12897930 -26-EC
Control number
861073200

This job is open to

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Clarification from the agency

Open to current, permanent employees of the Madison VA Medical Center and its outreach facilities ONLY NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

Videos

Duties

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VA Careers - Medical Support Assistant: https://youtube.com/embed/EE9c4XkaELo

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

The purpose of this position is to serve as a Health Unit Coordinator (HUC) with the responsibility for clerical management and coordination of patient movement on the inpatient units.

Duties include but are not limited to:

  • Verifies non-medication physician orders related to inter-unit/facility transfers, diet, lab work, and consults; transcribes to the patient spreadsheet.
  • Sends emergently drawn blood to the laboratory via the tube system or delivers to lab and coordinates with nursing staff to follow-up on results.
  • Assists physicians' and nurses with obtaining patient services at our academic affiliate institution, the University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics.
  • Completes clerical process for admission, discharge, nursing home placement, inter-ward and inter-hospital transfers, death and referral for community nursing care.
  • Schedules patient appointments for primary care and specialty care post inpatient discharge.
  • Reviews patient demographic information and corrects if needed.
  • Prepares clinical records for pre-surgery, surgery or other appointments prior to the procedure.
  • Cleans and maintains office equipment periodically (computers, copy/fax machines, printers, phones and chart folders with chart assembly), including cleaning computer key boards, mice and phones per procedure.

Work Schedule: Full-Time M-F, AM Tour
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)

Requirements

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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.
  • 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 1 or 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.

Qualifications

Basic Requirements:

US Citizenship is required. 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).

ENGLISH: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

EXPERIENCE: No experience required.

EDUCATION: High school diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education.

IN ADDITION TO MEETING THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS LISTED ABOVE, YOU MUST MEET THE GRADE REQUIREMENTS AT ONE OF THE FOLLOWING GRADE LEVELS TO QUALIFY FOR THIS POSITION.

GS-3 - This is an entry level MSA position. It is expected that MSAs at this level receive guidance from more experienced staff members and require frequent and direct supervision.
Experience or Education: None beyond the basic requirements.

GS-4 - This is a developmental level MSA position. It is expected that MSAs at this level receive minor and less frequent guidance from higher experienced staff members for more difficult tasks.
Experience: One year of creditable experience that equips you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of this position and that is equivalent to the next lower grade level (GS-3)
OR
Education: One year of education above high school. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED).
AND
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Knowledge of basic medical terminology to assist in the provision of care to patients.
4. Skill in recording patient messages and understanding physician requests pertaining to follow-up medical care in internal or external clinics.

GS-5 - This is the full performance level for MSAs. At this level, the MSA is expected to independently perform a full range of duties related to the delivery of healthcare services in an inpatient or outpatient setting.
Experience: One year of experience equivalent to the GS-4 grade level that equips you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of this position. At this grade level, experience consists of: interacting with internal and external customers; establishing and maintaining medical outpatient and inpatient charts as well as administrative records; verifying third party insurance and updating insurance information in automated systems; obtaining medical information from patients; coordinating information and actions related to patient care and services; and scheduling appointments
OR
Education: Two years of education above high school. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED).
AND
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:
1. Ability to operate computerized programs and systems in order to enter, modify, and retrieve sensitive medical and patient identifying information into or from electron health records, scheduling systems, and/or reports.
2. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology specific to understand medical diagnosis and procedures sufficient to communicate clinical staff instructions to patients.
3. Ability to schedule medical appointments in a clinical setting.
4. Ability to work independently in the accomplishment of a wide variety of duties performing patient support work.
5. Ability to communicate effectively and professionally in person, electronically, and/or by telephone, with internal and external customers.
6. Skill in customer service with the ability to identify customer concerns, and refer to the appropriate staff, as necessary, to ensure a satisfactory resolution.

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-05. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-03 to GS-05.

Education

Note: 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 information

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.

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.

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.

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