This position is located in the Primary and Specialty Medicine Service Line at the St. Cloud VA Health Care System and is the first administrative point-of-contact for Veterans, family, and other visitors contacting the St. Cloud VA and its clinics in Brainerd, Montevideo, and Alexandria.

Duties

Communication Provides specialized and expert communication and appropriate information across service lines for seamless function of program and collaboration of care for Veterans. Expertly develops and maintains effective and efficient communication with the Veterans, outside agencies, all VA staff, and any customers. Communicates with Veteran and provides information necessary to resolve complaints. Participates with expanding face to face and non-face to face care in PACT by using Veteran Health Coaching skills and enhancing Veteran self-management. Advanced skills in Composing and editing letters and reports. Advanced knowledge to access reports for clinic utilization, Access databases, consults, tracking scheduling attempts and consult scheduling, and various other reports as they become available. Is the main point of contact for all Secure messages sent to their team, will either fulfill the request or forward to the appropriate staff for follow up and completion. Administrative and Operational Is the expert in the department for scheduled and unscheduled visits Screens calls and determines if the call requires attention from a Registered Nurse, Licensed Practical Nurse, Provider, or other designated professional Advanced knowledge of scheduling management software following appropriate National and local scheduling policies and directives. Facilitates Release of Information for records and documents being received from outside facilities following national guidelines, monitoring and tracking the progress of receiving required information. Prepares agendas and minutes. Records, and publishes meeting agendas and minutes. Ability to use various types of office automation equipment and software, computer systems, web-based programs, Insurance collection systems, scanning software, multiple line phone system, electronic faxing programs and any other software that supports patient care. Advanced skill in recording patient messages and understanding physician requests pertaining to follow-up medical care in internal or external clinics. Receives and responds to inquiries via Secure Messaging, VAR, VEText, Letters, or phone calls. Recognizes and refers urgent inquiries to professional staff for immediate action as needed. Works or may be assigned to the Primary Care Call center in times of short staffing or high call volumes. Advanced knowledge in processing orders accurately, seeking clarification when needed. Monitors pre-appointment requirements (i.e., x-rays, labs, etc.) Specialized administrative judgement and flexible use of a wide range of clinical flow processing relating to access to care across multiple clinics, specialties and care in the community resources. Recommends changes to existing clinic procedure based on current administrative guidelines. Coordinates with teams to review clinic appointment availability utilization to ensure clinic schedules are closely monitored to effectively support the needs of the clinics and recommend necessary adjustments. Participate and providing input in problem solving on operational issues or procedures in team meetings. Problem solve and follow up with patients care by sharing information and collaborating with the team. Participate in and independently following up on team huddles but sharing information and collaborating with the medical team to assure continuity of care. Has advanced knowledge of the technical health care process as it relates to access to care. Adjusts the flow and sequencing of the work to meet team and patient needs. Ensure that appointments are scheduled correctly by doing order checks and following up with any MSA staff when error are found. Monitor's appointment requests for multiple clinics by scrubbing clinic schedules. Coordinates administrative functions relating to emergency and non-emergency transfers. Manage patient systems to verify and validate accuracy and resolve issues. Makes calls each day to coordinate information and actions relating to Veteran care and services. Relays information and requests from the Veterans to the treatment team and within the treatment team. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology specific to understanding medical diagnosis and procedures sufficient to communicate with clinical staff instructions to patients. Health Care Processes Reviews and understands all Health Care system Memorandums and HCSM's, seeking clarification when needed. Participates and provides input in problem solving on operational or procedural issues. Work Schedule: Administrative Days Telework: Ad-hoc Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 00000 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. 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. 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. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019. English Language Proficiency. MSAs must be proficient in spoken and written English. 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-6 Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. Candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs below: 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, Part II, Appendix G45 The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-6. Physical Requirements: You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position. Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination.

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 St Cloud VA Medical Center 4801 Veterans Drive St Cloud, MN 56303 US
• Name: Breeze Hennes
• Phone: (320) 252-1670 X5222
• Email: [email protected]