This Advanced Medical Support Assistant (AMSA) position is in the Medical Administration Service of the Alexandria VA Health Care System located in Lafayette LA. If you are not a current, permanent VA employee or Federal employee from another agency, you should apply under CBST-12042468-23-SB

Duties

This position is in the Medical Administration Service, Alexandria VA Health Care System (AVAHCS). This position provides support to the outpatient/admissions section of Medical Administration. The AVAHCS offers a full range of acute and chronic care services for Veterans residing in the South-Central Louisiana area. Services include, but are not limited to medicine, surgery, psychiatry, rehabilitative medicine, long term care, women's health, blind rehabilitation, mental health, substance abuse, and services for the seriously mental ill and nursing home care. There are numerous specialty clinics and laboratories. The Advanced Medical Support Assistant/Health Benefits Advisor (AMSA/HBA) performs duties related to the receipt, intake, and indexing of health and administrative information in the Intake Section. The duties of the Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) include but are not limited to: Interpreting and verifying provider orders Scheduling, canceling, and re-scheduling new enrollees' appointments Scheduling check in appointments for the Urgent Care Clinic Ensuring that encounter forms are completed to obtain appropriate workload credit Verifying and update demographics and capture insurance information Scheduling all post-discharge appointments from the inpatient units Performs clerical work in support of the care and treatment given to veterans Receives patients to be admitted Responds to technical questions regarding patient rights and responsibilities Performs work involving the collection, compilation and/or tracking of data Receives and processes documents and reports Establishes benefit eligibility and the medical care benefits Obtains pertinent information from veterans Denies eligibility based on regulations and other written guidelines Informs patients in adequate detail of denials and suggests alternative sources of obtaining medical care Refers patients to other specialized advisors Completes the verification of interfacility consults in a timely and proficient manner Generates patient data cards for veterans applying for care using the Veterans Health Identification Card (VHIC) system Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 502-00426-F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

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. Experience and Education. (1) 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, (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. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019. English Language Proficiency. Medical Support Assistants must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Policy. 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. To qualify for the GS-06 level, your resume must demonstrate you possess the required experience necessary to possess the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) required for the grade. Be specific when describing the job duties that demonstrate you possess the KSAs listed. Resume must include hours per week for work experience credit. Medical Support Assistant (Advanced), GS-06 (a) Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-05 grade level. To qualify for this position, you must demonstrate in your resume that you have experience that includes: Entering, modifying, retrieving sensitive information into or from electronic health records, scheduling systems, and/or reports; Scheduling medical appointments in a clinical setting; Performing patient support work; Providing customer service and identifying patient concerns to ensure satisfactory resolution; Advanced level of medical terminology. (b) Assignment. The Advanced MSA provides 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. Recommends 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.). (c) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition, you must demonstrate ALL of the following KSAs in your resume: 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 due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians. References: VA Handbook 5005/117 Part II, Appendix G45 VA Qualification Standard for Medical Support Assistant, GS-0679. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-06. Physical Requirements: The work involves walking, bending, lifting of medical records and working at a PC. The incumbent may come in contact with angry and potentially violent customers. Position requires a high level of concentration. Work is performed in an office/clinic setting with minimal risks that requires normal safety precautions; the area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated. However, the work environment requires someone with the ability to handle several tasks at once in sometimes stressful situations.

Education

IMPORTANT: A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on 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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

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.

Contacts

• Address Alexandria VA Medical Center 2495 Shreveport Highway Pineville, LA 71360 US
• Name: Susie Bryan
• Phone: 918-348-9281
• Email: [email protected]