Clarification from the agency

This announcement is open to CURRENT PERMANENT VHA only. Current, permanent VHA employees must submit their most recent, NON-AWARD SF-50, Notification of Personnel Action, to be considered for this vacancy. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

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The Advanced Medical Support Assistant (MSA) serves as a Consult Coordinator for Non VA Care. The Advanced MSA works collaboratively with other members of expanded health care teams (i.e. PACT, specialty care) including Non-VA Care providers, pharmacists, social workers, dieticians, behavioral health staff, etc. to provide a robust interdisciplinary approach to care. The incumbent performs clerical and administrative support in the coordination, care, and treatment provided to patients throughout the Non-VA Care C o o r d i n a t i o n (NVCC) and Veterans Choice Program (VCP) referral processes in the Marion VAMC, Evansville Health Care Center (EHCC) and Community Based Outpatient Clinics (CBOCs).

The Advanced MSA independently performs all elements of non-VA consult scheduling to results management of NVCC consults and VCP program, identifies workflow and system barriers, and utilizes standard operating procedures to ensure efficient and productive workflow. Assignments at this level include, but are not limited to: Tracking assigned workload for aging of consults, PC3 utilization and results management. Develop/maintain effective and efficient communication with the interdisciplinary team, and non-VA medical facilities. Participate in CRM team huddles and team meetings to manage and plan flow and sequencing of work to meet the team and patient needs. For all assignments above the full performance level, higher level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity (difficulty), and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25 percent of the time.

Incumbent collaborates with the Clinical Resource Management RNs when a consult requires clinical guidance during the scheduling process. Communicates information between community providers and VA interdisciplinary team timely and clearly to facilitate timely access to care. Informs VA Provider of care that cannot be scheduled within his/her recommended time frame and assists provider as needed in identifying alternate location or option to access care timely for the patient. Provides follow up calls to patients when it is identified that an appointment was not attended. Incumbent assists patients in rescheduling appointments in cases of missed or no-show appointments. He/she recognizes the importance of scheduling care in the correct sequence and timing when multiple Non-VA Medical Care appointments are necessary. Assists Veterans with interacting with VCP as appropriate. Effectively coordinates this care when multiple vendors or agencies are involved. Educates providers about shared patients who have care in the community. Correctly links Non-VA Medical Care consults and VCP appointments with the scheduling package to ensure information is available for others-scheduling care in the future thus avoiding conflicts or double scheduling appointments within and outside the VA within similar timeframe.

Work Schedule: 8am-4:30pm Monday-Friday.
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade).
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)
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position
Functional Statement #: 000000
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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

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.
• You MUST meet one of the three combinations of education and experience described below to meet the BASIC qualifications for this position:
• (1) 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
• (2) Education. One year above high school; OR
• (3) Experience/Education Combination. Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable. 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).

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:
Medical Support Assistant (Advanced), GS-6
Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level. In order to be considered at the GS-6 grade level, you must fully meet (experience must be documented in your resume or separate KSA responses) both the GS-5 and GS-6 KSAs:

GS-5 KSAs
1. 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.
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.

GS-6 KSAs:
1. 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.
2. Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians.

References: 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 GS-6.

Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. Typically, the Advanced MSA sits comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking, standing, bending, carrying of light items, 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, 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.