This position provides administrative support to the Mental Health Integrated Care Community at the Fargo VA Medical Center in Fargo, North Dakota. As an Advanced Medical Support Assistant (AMSA) your work impacts the administrative aspect of patient care including scheduling/coordinating appointments using advanced clinic access principles, collecting and updating demographic and insurance information, managing the wait list, patient processing and customer service.

Duties

Medical Support Assistant: vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Total-Rewards-of-a-MSA-VA-Career-Flyer.pdf The Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) works collaboratively in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model, i.e., Behavioral Health Improvement Program (BHIP) or Substance Use Disorder (SUD) team and performs receptionist duties, customer service and other duties assigned for the proper and timely treatment of patients and maintains appointment schedules for one or more outpatient clinics. Major duties include but not limited to: Support Tele-mental Health and Clinical Video Telehealth (CVT) scheduling, interpret and communicate requirements of VHA Scheduling Directives and complete accurate scheduling responsibilities; Assist with clinic access contingency plans by adjusting appointment times, location, or dates as well as shift patients to other healthcare providers as conflict with staffing and/or coverage occurs; Screen/Receive calls in a courteous and timely manner determining the nature of requests and provide the information desired using privacy rules and established clinic processes; Participate in (BHIP), (SUD) or other team huddles and team meetings where patient care planning and management occur; Perform administrative tasks in support of clinic functions, i.e., Primary Care Management Module (PCMM) data entry, consult management; Coordinate administrative services for veterans, family members, caregivers, general public, administrative, and clinical staff to ensure continuity of inpatient and outpatient care; Ensure all necessary health/administrative information are integrated into Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS); Interpret and apply pertinent laws, regulations, directives, and policies that relate to the administration of VA Healthcare Benefits; Conduct audits, studies, or surveys to be utilized in the development of procedures; Assist employees in collecting complete and appropriate data for reporting processes and for generating revenue; Generate patient workload reports for validation and monitors activity in clinical areas to assure consistent and accurate reporting; Organize and implement quality assurance monitoring; Guide patients through hospital system, input referrals, document complaints, provide follow-up, and suggest resolutions to supervisor; Additional duties or task may be assigned by the supervisor to ensure efficient daily operations. Work Schedule: Full-Time, Monday - Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases. When setting pay , a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of existing pay, 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. NOTE: This flexibility is highly recommended for all hard-to-recruit Hybrid Title 38 occupations such as medical technologist. 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: Ad-hoc available based upon organization and facility policies Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: PD000000 Financial Disclosure Report: Not required 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.

Requirements

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. 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. 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. English Language Proficiency. Per VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, Paragraph 3j: No person will be appointed under authority of 38 U.S.C., chapter 73 or 74, to serve in a direct patient-care capacity in VHA who is not proficient in written and spoken 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: 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. Medical Support Assistant (Advanced), GS-06 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. 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.). 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. Preferred Experience: Scheduling and Customer Service (Resume must include hours per week for work experience credit). References: VA Handbook 5005/117 Part II, Appendix G45 VA Qualification Standard for Medical Support Assistant, GS-0679.

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 Fargo VA Medical Center 2101 Elm Street Fargo, ND 58102 US
• Name: Arceafus Curry
• Phone: 478-454-8529
• Email: [email protected]