This position is in the Rehabilitation & Extended Care Service Line at the St. Cloud VA Health Care System and is the first administrative point-of-contact for patients and family members. The Advanced Medical Support Assistant position involves technical work concerned with the day-to-day administrative functions within the Rehabilitation Department.

Duties

Schedules, reschedules, and cancels appointments, including interpreting and verifying provider orders in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines. Works directly with patients who have been instructed to request a new appointment to schedule and provider patient instructions on test preparation, diets and procedural requirements. Utilizes and follows up on AudioCare Reminder calls for all outpatient rehab clinics including Community Based Outpatient Clinics and VISN providers. Produces and distributes daily schedules to professional staff. Demonstrates the ability to work in all rehabilitation clinical areas with minimal guidance. Receives, interviews, and routes individuals for either inpatient or outpatient care to the appropriate care team or setting. Maintains daily contact with professional services personnel giving outpatient/inpatient care to ensure the best possible liaison between patient and health care system personnel. Accepts telephone calls from Veterans, relatives, service officers, etc. regarding outpatient/inpatient treatment and transportation. Receives and responds to unclear inquiries concerning a variety of medical, personnel, and administrative matters. Determines general nature of inquiry and independently responds to all administrative questions. Recognizes and refers urgent inquiries to professional staff for immediate action. Reviews medical records of outpatients/inpatients to ensure that requested appointments are made for the professional staff and diagnostic services. Utilizes Appointment Management Supervisor Menu to facilitate efficient scheduling of appointments including accurately and appropriately closing all rehab clinics for provider leave, meetings or continuing education, providing grid management to ensure all clinic modalities are available and switched when not being used to maximize clinic utilization and decrease missed opportunities, and gathering appropriate information for DSS for stop codes/credit stop codes to create clinics. Processes all health care providers ordered accurately. Seeks clarification of orders when appropriate. Promptly and accurately initiates and checks on status of referrals, lab and x-ray procedures, completing required forms with appropriate patient identification. Makes numerous calls each day to coordinate information and actions relating to patient care and services. Relays information and requests from the patients to the treatment team. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 7:30-4:00 or 8:00-4:30 Telework: Not available Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 00000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized

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: Medical Support Assistant Qualification Standard 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]