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Advanced Medical Support Assistant

Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration
VA North Texas Health Care System (VANTHCS)

Summary

The Mental Health Service Advanced Medical Support Assistant (AMSA) serves in the Mental Health Division at VA North Texas Health Care System.

Overview

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Accepting applications
This job will close when we have received 50 applications which may be sooner than the closing date. Learn more
Location
1 vacancy in the following location:
Work site options
Telework eligible
No
Remote job
No
Relocation expenses reimbursed
No
Salary
$58,706 - $76,318 per year
Pay scale & grade
GS 6
Promotion potential
None
Pay scale and grade determines the salary of the job.
Work schedule
Full-time
Travel Required
Not required
Appointment type
Permanent
Occupations and job series
Supervisory status
No
Federal service type
This job is in the Excepted Service
Represented by a union
No
Drug test
No
Security clearance
Other
Position sensitivity and risk
Non-sensitive (NS)/Low Risk
Jobs require a background check and some require a security clearance. The type depends on the job.
Background check type
Financial disclosure required
No
Some jobs require financial disclosure to identify conflicts of interests.
Announcement number
CAZM-13111940-27-PT
Control number
892087300

Videos

Duties

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

Duties are but not limited to:

The Advanced Medical Support Assistant (AMSA) provides specialized administrative and patient support services within the Mental Health Division. The position supports patient access to care, clinic operations, and interdisciplinary healthcare teams to ensure timely, efficient, and quality services for Veterans.

Key Responsibilities:

  • Coordinates and schedules patient appointments using Advanced Clinic Access principles.
  • Maintains and manages clinic schedules, patient records, referrals, and administrative documentation.
  • Serves as a primary point of contact for Veterans, families, caregivers, and staff, providing exceptional customer service and resolving concerns.
  • Monitors clinic access, patient flow, provider availability, and compliance with scheduling directives.
  • Assists with staffing coordination, workload distribution, training, reporting, and quality assurance activities.
  • Conducts audits, surveys, workflow reviews, and data validation to improve operational efficiency and compliance.
  • Generates and analyzes workload and performance reports to support management decisions.
  • Collaborates with interdisciplinary clinical teams to coordinate patient care and ensure continuity of services.
  • Acts as a resource for staff, assists with special projects, and provides coverage during staffing shortages.
  • Serves as a timekeeper or backup timekeeper and maintains personnel records, supplies, and administrative resources.
  • Supports outreach initiatives, including Veteran Justice Outreach, Suicide Prevention, and Mental Health Social Work programs.
  • Identifies process improvement opportunities and develops solutions related to patient access, customer service, clinic operations, and revenue cycle activities.

Work Schedule: Monday- Friday, 8am- 4:30pm
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 102216
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorize

Requirements

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Conditions of employment

  • You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
  • To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the 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 identification 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:

  • United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
  • English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. ยง 7403(f).
  • Education. High school diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education.
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-06:

Experience.
One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:
(a) 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.
(b) 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.
(c) Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians.
(d) 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.
(e) Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations.
(f) 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.

Assignment. For all assignments above the FPL, the higher-level duties must be of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity, and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. At the advanced level, the Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) (AMSA) performs difficult and responsible specialized and expert administrative patient support while working collaboratively in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model. Work involves specialized administrative judgment and the flexible use of a wide range of clinical flow processes relating to access to care across multiple clinics, specialties, and/or care in the community resources. Recommend changes to existing clinic procedures based on current administrative guidelines. Expertise in utilizing numerous advanced patient systems in support of multiple clinics involved in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model. Coordinates with the patient care team to review clinic appointment availability (utilization) to ensure that clinic schedules are closely monitored to effectively support the needs of the clinics, and makes adjustments as necessary. MSAs at this level develop and/or maintain effective and efficient communication with the patient, interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model teams, VA medical centers, and other agencies (e.g., assist with communications during the inpatient to outpatient discharge; communicate with non-VA medical facilities; prepare correspondence to notify patients of normal lab results; manage a system for follow-up care such as consults, tests, etc.).

Other assignments at this level include, but are not limited to: processes incoming patient secure messaging through MyHealthyVet and coordinates with care team as appropriate; participates in team huddles and team meetings to manage, plan, problem solve, and follow-up with patient care by sharing information and collaborating with the interdisciplinary team; setting priorities and deadlines, adjusting the flow and sequencing of the work to meet team and patient needs; identifies incomplete encounters and communicates findings to providers; as needed; assists the team to reinforce the plan of care and self-help solutions; enters appropriate information into the electronic record; monitors pre-appointment information and/or requirements to assure readiness for patient visit/procedure; manages patient systems to verify and validate accuracy and resolve issues; evaluates patient information and clinic schedule lists to determine whether the patient requires an immediate appointment; informs team members about shared patients (i.e., those who receive their care at multiple VA centers or those who receive care in the community).

Preferred Experience:
  • Familiarity with basic data management skills, preferably with closing open encounters using VistA and CPRS.
  • ADPAC support services to include PIV sponsorship.
  • Basic healthcare administrative technical skills to schedule, cancel, and delete appointments in VistA.
  • Time and attendance skills with timekeeping in VATAS.
  • Subject matter expertise with VA standardized policies for memo formatting; competence with MS Word and MS Teams; and basic skills with MS Excel.
  • Competent with daily use of, and prompting skills, using AI Tools.

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: Light lifting: under 15 pounds; straight pulling (up to 1 hour); pushing (1 - 2 hours); reaching above shoulder; use of fingers; walking (up to 3 hours); standing (up to 3 hours); repeated bending (up to 1 hour); ability for rapid mental and muscular coordination simultaneously; near vision and far vision correctable in one eye to 20/20 and to 20/40 in the other; both eyes required for depth perception; ability to distinguish basic colors, ability to distinguish shades of color, hearing (aid permitted); climbing stairs; mentally alert, both legs required for operation of motor vehicle; and frequent keyboarding to operate a computer.

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

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.

Reasonable Accommodation (RA) Requests: If you believe you have a disability (i.e., physical or mental), covered by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended that would interfere with completing the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, you will be granted the opportunity to request a RA in your online application. Requests for RA for the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments and appropriate supporting documentation for RA must be received prior to starting the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments. Decisions on requests for RA are made on a case-by-case basis. If you meet the minimum qualifications of the position, after notification of the adjudication of your request, you will receive an email invitation to complete the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments, based on your adjudication decision. You must complete all assessments within 48 hours of receiving the URL to access the USA Hire Competency Based Assessments if you received the link after the close of the announcement. To determine if you need a RA, please review the Procedures for Requesting a Reasonable Accommodation for Online Assessments.

Receiving Service Credit for Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.

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.

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.

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following Competencies for this position:

  • Customer Service
  • Flexibility
  • Integrity/Honesty
  • Interpersonal Skills
  • Reading Comprehension
  • Reasoning
  • Self-Management
  • Teamwork


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.

Area of Consideration- Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred in the following order:

1. Current permanent VA employees of the facility.

2. All other VA employees.

3. Current permanent Federal employees of other agencies.

4. All other applicants.

Note: Veterans' Preference is not applicable to VA employees or employees of other Federal agencies.

Veterans Health Administration

OUR MISSION: To fulfill President Lincoln's promise "To care for those who have served in our nation's military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors" - by serving and honoring the men and women who are America's Veterans. How would you like to become a part of a team providing compassionate whole health care to Veterans?

VA North Texas Health Care System (VANTHCS) is the second busiest VA system in the nation and we are growing! Comprised of the Dallas VA Medical Center, Sam Rayburn Memorial Veterans Center in Bonham, Fort Worth Outpatient Clinic and Tyler VA Primary Care Clinic, VANTHCS is an integrated health care system with approximately 4,000 employees and over 1,600 volunteers and clinical trainees. VANTHCS also coordinates a Community Based Outpatient Clinic program throughout its 40-county primary service area to improve access to care for veterans throughout 38 North Texas and 2 in southern Oklahoma. Through these four distinctive facilities and relationships with other agencies, VANTHCS offers a continuum of health care services to a veteran population of approximately 500,000.

Housed on an 84-acre campus, Dallas VA Medical Center is the corporate headquarters for VANTHCS and serves as the tertiary referral center. Through its partnership with The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas (UT Southwestern), it also has emerged as a major teaching and medical research center.

Agency contact information

Paris Thomas
Email
Paris.Thomas@va.gov
Address
Dallas VA Medical Center
4500 South Lancaster Road
Dallas, TX 75216
US

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