Clarification from the agency

This announcement is open to the public. Current permanent employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs and other current, permanent Federal employees should apply to CAZM-12789017-25-EMG. Although hybrid title 38 occupations follow title 5 Veterans' preference rules, 38 U.S.C. § 7412 waives the requirement to apply Veterans' preference to external applicants applying for this position as identified by VHA until 09/30/2025 as outlined in OCHCO Bulletin dated 10/01/2024.

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The MSA is responsible for answering phones, greeting patients, relaying messages to appropriate staff inside or outside of the unit, scheduling appointments, including interpreting, and verifying provider orders in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines. The incumbent will handle complex incoming calls from several sources and performs duties that include, but are not limited to scheduling, canceling, rescheduling patient appointments and/or consults: the receipt, intake, and indexing of health and administrative information. The MSA will participate in huddles with other MSAs and/or clinical staff to determine the daily needs of the service.

Routinely communicates with physicians, case managers, and other allied health care professional staff using sound interpersonal skills and is constantly aware of the sensitive information that is being communicated. Performance is judged in terms of overall effectiveness of the operation through broad general objectives, the adequacy and accuracy of the work, timeliness, and conformance to established procedure, policies, and instructions. It is expected that MSA receives guidance from more experience staff members for more difficult tasks while learning about healthcare delivery, the mission of VHA, facility policies, procedures, and VHA regulations as they relate to many different clinical functions.

The MSA is responsible for scheduling appointments, including interpreting, and verifying provider orders in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines. Assignments at this level include, but are not limited to: interacting with both internal and external customers over the phone and in person, establishing and maintaining medic.al charts as well as administrative records, scheduling, canceling, re-scheduling patient's appointments and/or consults; entering no-show information; preparing for clinic visits; monitoring both inpatient and outpatient appointments for areas of responsibility; ensuring encounter forms are completed in order to obtain appropriate workload credit; verifying and updating demographics and insurance information; obtaining medical information from patients; coordinating information and actions related to patient care and services. The MSA refers all questions requiring immediate attention to appropriate health care team member.

The work includes various duties involving different and unrelated processes and methods. The scope of this work is frequently accomplished under strict deadlines due to time constraints and patient volumes. Therefore, the employee must always remain professional, be tactful, and use discretion in all contacts. Incumbent must gain the confidence of a variety of people and consistently demonstrate the ability to effectively and efficiently create a climate of responsiveness and cooperation to handle priorities and work pressures. The incumbent will interface with personal computer (PC) applications as well as numerous VistA and Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) applications.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:45pm
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
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)
Telework: Ad-hoc
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: GS-3: 52259F, GS-4: 52258F, GS-5: 52257F

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.
• You may be required to serve a trial period.
• 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).

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 09/08/2025

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 (Transcripts Required); OR
  • Experience/Education Combination. Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable (Transcripts Required).
• 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.
• 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.

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 GS-5
Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-4 grade level; OR,
Education. Four years of education above high school. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED)
Assignment. This is the full performance level for MSAs. At this level, the MSA independently performs a full range of duties related to the delivery of healthcare services in an inpatient or outpatient setting. Advises clinical staff on current administrative processes. The MSA is responsible for answering phones, greeting patients, relaying messages to appropriate staff inside or outside of the unit], scheduling appointments, including interpreting and verifying provider orders in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines. Assignments at this level include, but are not limited to: scheduling, canceling, re-scheduling patient appointments and/or consults; entering no-show information; monitoring appointment requests from multiple electronic sources; participating in huddles with other MSAs and/or clinic staff to determine the daily needs of the clinic, monitoring both inpatient and outpatient appointments in areas of responsibility; verifying and updating demographics and insurance information when [patients check-in for appointments. Coordinates administrative functions relating to] emergency and non-emergency transfers to other VA facilities or private hospitals [and determines appointment type based on the patient's] eligibility status (i.e., TRICARE, sharing agreements, collaterals, research patient, VA employee, etc.).
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. 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.

Preferred Experience:

• Customer Service
• Medical Terminology
• Ability to type 50 WPM
• Ability to work in a team environment
• Ability to work in a team environment

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.

Physical Requirements: Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for the occupation and would generally not require a pre-placement 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.