Clarification from the agency

NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below. Open to full time, permanent employees of the Hershel "Woody" Williams VAMC. CRITICAL Shortage LIST OIG: 38 U.S.C. 7412 waives the requirement to apply Veterans' preference to external applicants for appointments made during the fiscal year to hybrid title 38 occupations among those reported to have the largest staffing shortages.

Videos

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

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Duties include, but are not limited to:

• provides specialized and expert administrative patient support while working collaboratively in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model.
• provides specialized administrative judgment and flexibility in the use of a wide range of clinical flow processes relating to access to care across multiple clinics and specialties including clinic cancellations.
• recommends changes to existing procedures based on current administrative guidelines.
• has 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 the clinic schedules are closely monitored to effectively support the needs of the clinics (and adjust, as needed).
• develops and/or maintains effective and efficient communication with the patient, interdisciplinary coordinated care models, VA medical centers, and other agencies (e.g., assists with communications during the inpatient to outpatient discharge.
• communicate with non-VA medical facilities.
• manages a system for follow-up care such as consults, tests, etc.
• participates in team huddles and team meetings (staff meetings) to manage, plan, problem solve, and follow-up with patient care by sharing information and collaborating with the interdisciplinary team and with the HAS supervisory team.
• sets priorities and deadlines, as needed.
• adjusts 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 and updates pre-appointment information (demographics, including insurance capture) and/or requirements to assure readiness for patient visit/procedure, as needed
• 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 medical centers or those who receive care in the community).
• comply with local HAS-MCMs and SOPs that pertain to their work area.
• works staggered shifts and/or weekends, as required and assigned (mostly pertains extended hour clinic AMSAs).
• AMSAs rotate throughout the clinics, to include phone unit, consult team and clinic cancellations, as needed, in a fair and equitable rotation.
• processes commitments, as needed.
• processes patient funds, as needed.
• conduct patient surveys, as requested.
• processes MSA portion of travel consult, as needed.
• contacts Travel office with patient date of travel, as needed.
• completion of all required training within set time frames.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8:00am - 4:30pm
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)
Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior [work experience] or military service experience.
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 #: 22050-F
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Conditions of employment

• RESUME REQUIREMENTS - Your resume MUST include the following information:
• Job Title (for each position)
• Description of duties (be as detailed as possible)
• Month and year start/end dates (e.g. June 2018 to April 2020) of employment
• Full-time or part-time status (include average hours worked per week)
• 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 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.

Experience and Education:

• Experience. 12 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

Certification: None required.

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: Advanced Medical Support Assistant GS-6 Grade Level:

Experience: One year of experience equivalent to the [GS-5] grade level.

• Experience is defined as experience that includes, but is not limited to: scheduling, canceling, re-scheduling patient's appointments and/or consults; entering no-show information; monitoring the electronic wait list; 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; processing all emergency and non-emergency transfers to other VA facilities or private hospitals; performing basic eligibility, co-pays and pre-authorization requirements for specific coverage (i.e., TRICARE, sharing agreements, etc.).

Candidates must also be able to demonstrate the following Knowledge, skills, and abilities for the GS-0679-6 level to qualify for this position:

• 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.
• Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Advanced knowledge of medical terminology and abbreviations

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

The full performance level of this vacancy is a GS-06. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is a GS-06.

Physical Requirements: VA Directive and Handbook 5019.Work is partially sedentary, with frequent walking, standing, bending. carrying of light items such as papers and books, or small parts. Some slight physical effort may be required. Incumbent may be susceptible to eyestrain from working long hours on the computer.

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.