Clarification from the agency

This is an INTERNAL ANNOUNCEMENT and is limited to current permanent employees of the St. Cloud VA Health Care System to include CBOC's--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 incumbent provides both routine and specialized administrative support to an interdisciplinary team that may include, but is not limited to, Physicians, Nurse Practitioners, Psychologists, Social Workers, Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses, Health Technicians, and other healthcare professionals. The AMSA serves as the initial administrative point of contact for Veterans, families, visitors, and clinical staff, managing complex patient interactions with professionalism and accuracy.

Communication
- Demonstrates excellent interpersonal skills, handling conflict or differing viewpoints in a diplomatic manner.
- Demonstrates positive people skills reflecting caring, service orientation, professionalism, understanding, helpfulness, and concern toward Veterans, visitors, and staff.
- Acts as a receptionist by handling incoming and outgoing calls, greeting visitors, recording messages, and routing inquiries appropriately.
- Responds to all calls and visitors, conveying accurate, consistent information, and routes matters to appropriate resources.
- Ability to communicate effectively and professionally with people of all educational backgrounds.
- Utilizes medical terminology to ensure Veterans and other callers are directed to the appropriate resource.
- Serves as a liaison among Veterans, families, interdisciplinary teams, and internal/external stakeholders.
- Participates in team meetings and huddles, sharing information for improved care coordination and service delivery.
- Handles complex or urgent administrative inquiries, escalating only as necessary.
- Receives and responds to inquiries via phone, Secure Messaging, Message Manager, VAR, VEText, letters, or in-person; alerts clinical staff to urgent situations as needed.
- Maintains confidentiality of Veteran information by adhering to HIPAA and facility policies.
- Utilizes email and secure messaging systems to facilitate communication within BHIP and related teams.
Administrative and Operational
- Operates with a high degree of independence, prioritizing and coordinating work for effective clinic operations.
- Acts as a subject matter expert in scheduling; manages scheduled and unscheduled visits for multiple specialty clinics in accordance with VHA guidelines.
- Responsible for scheduling, canceling, and rescheduling appointments, as well as interpreting and verifying provider orders.
- Independently interprets, verifies, and executes provider orders; processes STAT/routine orders accurately and seeks clarification when necessary.
- Supports and adapts to evolving service line requirements, technology upgrades, and workflow changes.
- Serves as the main point of contact for patient data management using systems such as ISS, VISTA, CPRS, ICB, CTM, and Outlook.
- Updates and verifies demographic and insurance/pre-registration information to ensure data is accurate and current; updates patient records as needed.
-Maintains and processes all required documentation and reports with high attention to detail; accurately enters data into the Veteran's electronic medical record.
-Demonstrates high proficiency in using computer systems and office procedures.
-Provides support to the Behavioral Health and Interdisciplinary Program (BHIP) and other specialty staff.
-Proactively identifies and resolves patient flow or scheduling conflicts to ensure continuity and quality of care.
-Demonstrates advanced knowledge of medical terminology and crisis intervention, including proper procedures for handling suicide calls.
-Maintains flexibility in adapting to changes in schedules and workload; willingly assists other team members.
-Multi-tasks effectively in high-pressure situations and prioritizes changing workflows accordingly.
-Assists with obtaining supplies, handling medical data, scanning, copying, faxing, and distributing mail.
-Provides clerical support for use of the computer contingency plan.
-Promptly and accurately initiates and checks status of referrals, lab, and imaging procedures.
-Follows established procedures for appointment scheduling; ensures appointments are coordinated to avoid conflicts and notify professional staff of scheduling or special preparation needs.
-Assists with orientation and training of new or less experienced MSAs.
-Completes all other assigned duties in support of outpatient mental health services.
-Handles issues at the lowest level and resolves them in a timely manner.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8am-4:30pm
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
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

Basic Requirements:

Citizenship. 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).
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.
Certification. None required.
Grandfathering Provision. All MSAs employed in VHA in this occupation on the effective date of this qualification standard are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the title, series, and grade held, which are a part of the basic requirements of the occupation. For employees who do not meet all the basic requirements required in this standard, but who met the qualifications applicable to the position at the time they were appointed to it, the following provisions apply:(1) Such employees may be reassigned, promoted, or changed to a lower grade within the occupation.(2) Employees who are appointed on a temporary basis prior to the effective date of the qualification standard may not have their temporary appointment extended or be reappointed, on a temporary or permanent basis, until they fully meet the basic requirements of the standard.(3) If an employee who was converted to Title 38 hybrid status under this provision leaves the occupation, the employee loses protected status and must meet the full VA qualification standard requirements in effect at the time of reentry to the occupation
Foreign Education. To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must have been submitted to a private organization that specializes in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials and such education must have been deemed at least equivalent to that gained in conventional U.S. programs.
English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).
Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements.

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).

Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) GS-6

This position is above the full performance level for this job series and requires experience beyond the basic requirement for positions in this occupation. You must meet the basic requirements and the following:

REQUIRED EXPERIENCE: One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level that equips the candidate with the following:

1. 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. Schedule medical appointments in a clinical setting;
4. Work independently in the accomplishment of a wide variety of duties performing patient support work;
5. Communicate effectively and professionally in person, electronically, and/or by telephone, with internal and external customers;
6. Customer service with the ability to identify customer concerns, and refer to the appropriate staff, as necessary, to ensure a satisfactory resolution.

AND Candidates must be able to demonstrate all of the Knowledge, Skills and Abilities below:

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 organizes 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.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

The full performance level of this vacancy is 6.

Physical Requirements: You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position. Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination.

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.