This position serves as a Medical Support Assistant for the Veteran Experience Office within the Chief of Staff service located at the Bedford VA Healthcare System in Bedford, MA. This is a full-time 40 hours per week position.

Duties

In accordance with the provisions of 38 U.S.C. § 7412 Veterans' preference restrictions are waived for this position due to critical shortage identification. Duties may include, but are not limited to: Collects and updates insurance information from Veterans, family members and other eligible patients. b. Prepares correspondence and memos as needed. Screens/receive phone calls in a courteous and timely manner, determine the nature of request and provide the information desired using privacy rules and established clinic processes. Ensures data is entered into VISTA accurately and scans documents into VISTA Imaging within 24 hours of entering the data into VISTA if applicable. Promotes Veteran registration for and utilization of My HealtheVet (MHV) Stocks basic office supplies for the clinical area. Enters Veterans seeking emergent/urgent care, scheduling appointments accurately. Utilizes call lists and telephones Veterans to pre-register them before their scheduled visits. Incumbent updates all patient demographics. Communicates and interacts with patients in a manner which is appropriate to cognitive, emotional, and chronological maturation needs of the adult and/or geriatric patient. Assures that all appropriate VA forms are used correctly, and regulations followed. Additional duties or tasks may be assigned by the supervisor to ensure efficient daily operations. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:30am-4:0pm Compressed/Flexible: Not Available Telework: Not Available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: F1390 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required NOTIFICATIONS: This position is a NAGE bargaining unit position. Current and former Federal employees must submit copies of their most recent non-award SF-50 (notice of Personnel Action). The SF=50 must identify the position, title, series, grade, step, tenure and type of service (competitive or Excepted). In some cases, more than one SF-50 may be required to show a higher grade previously held. This position is in the Excepted Service.

Requirements

Qualifications

Applicants should be fully qualified by the closing date of the announcement.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. MSAs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j. 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 OR Experience/Education Combination: Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable Grade Determinations: Medical Support Assistant, GS-3:Experience or Education. None beyond the basic requirements. Medical Support Assistant, GS-4:(a)Experience. One year of experience in 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 (b)Education.Two years of education above high school.(c) Assignment. This is a developmental level MSA position. It is expected that MSAs at this level receive [minor and less frequent] guidance from higher experienced staff members for more difficult tasks. Assignments at this level include, but are not limited to: scheduling and rescheduling patients for treatment; interviewing patients for appointments; referring patients to other medical specialty clinics; providing information to patients necessary to resolve VA Handbook complaints;] interacting with both internal and external customers; reviewing and documenting medical outpatient and inpatient electronic health records, as well as administrative records; verifying third party insurance and updating information in the Insurance Capture Buffer (ICB) system; obtaining medical information from patients; coordinating information and actions related to patient care and services; and scheduling appointments in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines. MSAs at this level refer all questions regarding medical attention to the appropriate health care team member. (d) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. Candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs: Ability to meet, communicate, and interact with individuals from varying backgrounds and other health care team members in a courteous and helpful manner in order to facilitate medical care for patients. Ability to use, and navigate between, various types of office automation equipment and software i.e. computer systems, web based scheduling programs; insurance collection system; scanning software, multiple line phone systems; electronic faxing programs to support patient care. Knowledge of basic medical terminology to assist in the provision of care to patients. Skill in recording patient messages and understanding physician requests pertaining to follow-up medical care in internal or external clinics. GS-5 Grade Level Requirement: Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the [GS-4] grade level; OR, Education. Four years of education above high school. In addition to the experience or education listed above you mush also demonstrate the following Knowledge Skills and Abilities (KSAs): 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. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology specific to understand medical diagnosis and procedures sufficient to communicate clinical staff instructions to patients. Ability to schedule medical appointments in a clinical setting. Ability to work independently in the accomplishment of a wide variety of duties performing patient support work. Ability to communicate effectively and professionally in person, electronically, and/or by telephone, with internal and external customers. Skill in customer service with the ability to identify customer concerns, and refer to the appropriate staff, as necessary, to ensure a satisfactory resolution. 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.). References: VA Handbook 5005, PART II, APPENDIX G45 Medical Support Assistant VA Qualification Standard. This can be found in the local Human Resources Office.The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-5. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy isGS-03 thru GS 05. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-05. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-03 to GS-05. Physical Requirements: The work is mostly sedentary. Occasionally, light physical effort may be required, such as that involved with walking, stair climbing, and carrying of light office items.

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.

Contacts

• Address VA Bedford Healthcare System 200 Springs Road Bedford, MA 01730 US
• Name: Tami Sweet
• Phone: 916-213-9783
• Email: [email protected]