Major Duties Include:

• Incumbent provides specialized and expert administrative patient support while working collaboratively in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model.
• 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.
• 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
• Incumbent is responsible for assuring that various aspects of staffing, training, compliance, reporting, quality assurance, and budgetary initiatives are met.
• Integral role in identifying and developing ways to resolve problems with the administrative and clinical staff on access, customer service, patient flow, revenue, and data validation issues.
• Incumbent is acting as a receptionist at the clinic, either face-to-face or telephonically, requiring excellent customer service skills.
• Work requires a high degree of judgment in responding to both employee and patient concerns and providing solutions to process problems as they affect day-to-day operations.
• Frequent visits to off-site clinics to fill-in for or interact with the Clinical Support Section employees and clinical/administrative staff in these areas.
• Incumbent may be required to work staggered shifts and/or weekend clinics in support of Advanced Clinic Access initiatives.

VA Careers - Medical Support Assistant: https://youtube.com/embed/EE9c4XkaELo
Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

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: This is not a telework position.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 52267F
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 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

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.
  • Six months experience of clerical, office, customer service, or other administrative work that indicates the ability to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to perform the duties of the position; OR high school diploma with desire of some post high school education or equivalent experience.
  • 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.
• 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.

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-06

• Experience. Once year of experience equivalent to the GS-05 grade level

Preferred Experience:

• 1 year experience working in a clinical environment coordinating clinic schedules for providers
• 1 year experience scheduling patients in medical appointment software in an interdisciplinary coordinated delivery model
• 1 year experience managing patient communications in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model (e.g. telephone and/or email)
• 1 year experience documenting appropriate information into an electronic medial record
• 1 year of administrative/office customer service skills in de-escalation, problem solving, decision making, and tactful communication skills orally and in in writing

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. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-06.