Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)
What you'd do
Coordinates complex patient access and administrative support across outpatient, inpatient, eligibility, and enrollment settings. Reviews clinic use, manages scheduling and wait lists, processes secure messaging, updates records, supports transfers and discharge follow-up, verifies eligibility, and resolves workflow issues while serving as a liaison among Veterans, families, care teams, VA facilities, and providers. Maintains confidentiality; supports timely, safe, patient-centered care.
Major duties
Duties include, but are not limited to: Coordinate patient scheduling, cancellations, rescheduling, consults, and appointment tracking. Serve as the main communication link among Veterans, families, care teams, VA facilities, non-VA providers, and clinical staff. Review clinic utilization, monitor clinic setup, and adjust workflow to meet patient and team needs. Support continuity of care through discharge coordination, follow-up care, transfers, and handoffs. Enter, verify, and update electronic records, demographics, insurance, eligibility, and administrative documentation. Manage electronic wait lists, validate accuracy, and monitor pre-appointment requirements. Identify and help resolve scheduling, workflow, access, equipment, and procedural issues. Process secure messaging, patient notifications, and normal lab-result communications. Interpret eligibility requirements and support admissions, transfers, discharges, enrollment, and benefits access. Protect sensitive information and comply with Privacy Act, HIPAA, VA, and VHA requirements. Work Schedule: Monday -Friday, 8:00am to 4:30pm Telework: Available, ad-hoc only, in accordance with agency policies. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 53753-F Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
What you need to qualify
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. Experience: None. Education: High school diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education. Grandfathering Provision: Employees in VHA in this occupation, under a permanent, appropriate, and legal placement on the effective date of the qualification standard, May 7, 2026, are considered to have met all qualification requirements for the grade and/or assignment held, including positive education and registration/certification Foreign Education: To be creditable, education completed outside the U.S. must be deemed at least equivalent to that gained in a conventional U.S. program by a private organization specializing in the interpretation of foreign educational credentials. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). Grade Determination: Medical Support Assistant (Advanced), GS-06. Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade, GS-05. Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: 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. 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. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-06. Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. Some work may require movement between offices, hospitals, warehouses, and similar areas for meetings and to conduct work. Work may also require walking/standing, in conjunctions with travel to and attendance at meetings and/or conferences away from the work site. Incumbent may carry and lift light items weighing less than 15 pounds. Creditable Experience. To be creditable, the experience must have required the use of knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) associated with current MSA responsibilities or an equivalent administrative patient support role in a non-VA medical inpatient or outpatient setting. Experience satisfying this requirement may be paid or non-paid employment as an MSA or an equivalent position in a non-VA hospital or clinic setting. Quality of Experience. Qualifying experience must be at a level comparable to MSA experience or equivalent administrative clinical support role in a non-VA medical inpatient or outpatient setting at the next lower grade level of the position being filled. For this assignment, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity, and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time. Part-Time Experience. Part-time experience is creditable according to its relationship to a full-time workweek. For example, an individual employed 20 hours per week, or on a half-time basis, would receive credit for 1 full-time workweek for each 2 weeks of service.
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