The incumbent serves as an Advanced Medical Support Assistant (AMSA) Health Benefits Advisor within Health Administration Service (HAS) at VA Illiana Health Care System. The AMSA Health Benefits Advisor is responsible for a wide range of assignments and provides administrative support to the Section and the clinical staff. Aspects of this position have a direct impact on the reimbursement of the facility.

Duties

DUTIES: Responsible for interviewing patients applying for medical benefits. Applications may be received in person, by telephone, by mail, or referral from another VA. Verifies eligibility/entitlement for benefits of all applicants using various methods. Advises the Veterans of their entitlement to various medical benefits and discusses co-payment requirements of Veterans in discretionary categories. Accurately generates patient data cards for Veterans applying for care using the Veterans Health Identification Card (VHIC) system. Monitors enrolled patient data base information on a regular basis to perform updates to health insurance data, income assessments for the Means Test and Pharmacy Co-pay Exemption programs as mandated by law. Reviews all Dental Consults for eligibility criteria and process accordingly. Provides coverage to other AMSA positions in clinics during clinic business hours. Participating in team huddles/meetings to manage and plan patient care. Interacting with both internal and external customers. Processing secure messages. Serves as area's communication liaison through the use of technology (multi-line telephone, computer, radio, and paging system). Establishing patient records, and/or routing patient records accurately and appropriately. Coordinating and scheduling patient care and services; demonstrating complete established administrative action for each order. Scheduling appointments in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines. Monitoring pre-appointment requirements to assure readiness for patient visit service/procedure; verifying and updating patient demographics. Provide follow-up calls to patients to remind them of appointments and to reschedule when clinic is cancelled. Reviews schedules and ensures clinic slots are managed appropriately to maximize capacity making schedule changes, as necessary. The Advanced MSA refers all questions requiring immediate medical attention to appropriate health care team member. Performs other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Full time, Monday - Friday, 7:30am - 4:00pm Telework: Not available. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized. Financial Disclosure Report: Not required.

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/08/2024. BASIC REQUIREMENTS EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE: Must possess six (6) months experience of clerical, office, customer service or other administrative work that indicates the ability to acquire the particular knowledge and skill necessary to perform the duties of the Medical Support Assistant. OR Must have successfully completed one (1) year above high school. This education must have been obtained in an accredited technical school, junior college, college or university. One year of full-time academic study is defined as 30 semester hours, 45 quarter hours, or the equivalent in a college or university. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED) OR Equivalent combinations of experience and education are qualifying for entry level. (TRANSCRIPTS REQUIRED) IN ADDITION TO MEETING THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS LISTED ABOVE, YOU MUST MEET THE GRADE REQUIREMENTS AT THE GS-6 LEVEL TO QUALIFY FOR THIS POSITION. GS-6 LEVEL GRADE REQUIREMENTS: SPECIALIZED EXPERIENCE: Must have one (1) year of experience that is directly related to the duties of a MSA and that equips you with the particular knowledge, skills, and abilities to perform successfully the duties of this position. To be creditable, this experience must be equivalent to the next lower grade level, GS-5, and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with current MSA responsibilities. Experience at this level includes, but is not limited to: Advising clinical staff on current administrative processes. Answering phones, greeting patients, relaying messages to appropriate staff inside or outside of the unit, scheduling, canceling, re-scheduling patient appointments and/or consults including interpreting and verifying provider orders in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines. 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.). AND KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES: You also must demonstrate the following KSAs: Ability to collaborate and communicate with a wide range of medical clinicians across multiple disciplines 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. 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 the patient flow, and patient support care 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. REFERENCE: VA Handbook 5005/117, Part II, Appendix G45, Medical Support Assistant Qualification Standards. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-06. Physical Requirements: The work is primarily sedentary. Physical demands do not exceed those of a typical office setting. There may be some walking, standing twisting, turning, sitting, pushing, bending, repetitive keyboarding, or carrying of light items. Some positions may require sitting for long periods of time at a computer terminal typing data while talking on a telephone headset.

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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

Contacts

• Address Danville VA Medical Center 1900 East Main Street Danville, IL 61832 US
• Name: Danielle Taylor
• Phone: 217-554-3067
• Email: [email protected]