Advanced Medical Support Assistant (EHRM)
What you'd do
The incumbent serves as an Advanced Medical Support Assistant in the VA Care Community Section (VACC) at the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center in Iron Mountain, Michigan, under Nursing and Patient Care Service. The incumbent's work impacts the administrative aspect of patient care, including: access, scheduling/ coordinating patient appointments using advanced clinic access principles, collecting and updating demographics and insurance information and customer service.
Major duties
Duties: The Advanced MSA works collaboratively in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model. The incumbent provides administrative support to clinicians and other administrative and professional staff throughout the medical staff office for purposes of coordinating VACC medical care for Veterans when the inpatient or outpatient provider has deemed such care necessary. The VACC program requires administrative scheduling and appointment coordination for diagnostic testing, and consultative appointments for many clinical services. Incumbent must receive phone calls in a courteous and timely manner, determine the nature of requests, provide the information desired using privacy rules and established processes. A caring, compassionate and sensitive manner is essential when explaining procedures to Veterans and their family both in person and on the phone. The Advanced MSA is able to independently manage position responsibilities with little supervision as well as set priorities and deadlines adjusting the flow and sequencing of work to meet team and patient needs. This position is responsible for generating authorizations for pre-authorized outpatient, unauthorized and emergency care claims, while making eligibility determinations for the various programs in VACC. Works closely with utilization review to ensure proper authorizations are issued and appropriate correspondence is sent to vendors. He/She acts as a liaison between the veteran and the vendors with regard to the VACC section and VA clinical services and/or primary care services. Obtains requested reports, x-rays, labs and any pertinent information required to complete the VACC Coordination consult in CPRS. Ensures all necessary components and documentation is distributed to appropriate services at the private institution where service will be provided. Prioritizes requested procedure based on urgency. The incumbent is responsible for the coordination of all administrative information between the professional staff and the patient. This includes data entry, administratively managing consult requests, and making and notifying the patient of his/her scheduled appointment with the outside providers. Responsible for maintaining a current directory of contact information in Excel, to include name, address, phone, and fax numbers of institution, contact person. The incumbent is responsible for generating correspondence to the Veterans and various providers and managing all received correspondence related to their Community Care. Provides advisory and technical assistance to Veterans and staff in answering questions. Determines the nature of Veterans' needs, questions or complaints. Provides necessary information to the staff and the patient, dealing with a wide range of problems including atypical and complex situations. Incumbent utilizes HSRM and VISTA to manage and coordinate appointment management with the creation of authorizations as outlined by the Office of Integrated Veteran Care (IVC) Field Guidebook. Other duties as assigned. VA Careers - Medical Support Assistant: https://youtube.com/embed/EE9c4XkaELo Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Work Schedule: Full Time, Monday- Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm Compressed/Flexible: Not authorized Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not authorized. Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not authorized Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of 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. 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: This is not a telework position. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 09367F Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not authorized
What you need to qualify
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. Education or Training: 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 One year above high school; OR Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable. Physical Requirements: Must pass a pre-employment physical per VA Directive and Handbook 5019. English Language Proficiency: MSA's must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j. IN ADDITION TO MEETING THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS LISTED ABOVE, YOU MUST MEET THE FOLLOWING GRADE REQUIREMENTS TO QUALIFY FOR THIS POSITION. GS-6 Grade Requirements: You must have one year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 level. Specialized experience 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 in a computerized scheduling system; 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 Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. Candidates must demonstrate 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. Preferred Experience: Community Care experience Home Care Nursing Home experience Billing experience Administrative Secretarial experience: 1-2 years Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. 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.
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