Medical Support Assistant
What you'd do
The Medical Support Assistant (MSA) works within the Community Care service line at the Iowa City VA Medical Center. The MSA performs clerical and administrative support in the coordination, care, and treatment provided to patients.
Major duties
Assignments at this level include, but are not limited to: Tracking assigned workload for all of consults, results management, and traditional Community Care authorizations. Develop/maintain effective and efficient communication with the interdisciplinary team, and non-VA medical facilities. Participate in Care in the Community team huddles and team meetings to manage and plan flow and sequencing of work to meet the team and patient needs. Ensures the integrity of various databases, and data used in the management of administrative and customer service within the department. Understands and appropriately utilizes the Community Care programs, to include electronic medical records, scheduling software, Release of Information software, and other critical administrative programs Scheduling, rescheduling patient consults, and monitoring processes related to Care in the Community scheduling Accurately schedules the full spectrum of medical care including but is not limited to outpatient appointments, outpatient procedures, inpatient surgery, lab tests and imaging throughout all specialties. Communicate to the patient and pre- appointment requirements or instructions. Clearly communicate appointment care details to the patient or family. Communicate to the Ordering Provider or Nurse if instructions are of nature that clinical review is required to determine appropriateness for the patient. Identify and communicate patient concerns or needs recognized during communications regarding upcoming Community Care. Correctly links Care in the Community consults and appointments within the scheduling package to ensure information is available for others scheduling care in the future. Work Schedule: Intermittent employment is defined as non-fulltime employment in which employees serve under an excepted or competitive service appointment, hours to be discussed during interview, however will be up to 32 hours/week. 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 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: Not available. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 00000 Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will remain open until September 21, 2026. The initial cut-off date for referral of eligible applications will be July 24, 2026. Eligible applications received after that date will be referred at regular intervals or as additional vacancies occur on an as-needed basis until positions are filled.
What you need to qualify
Basic Requirements: a. Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States (U.S.). Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens b. Experience. None. c. Education. High school diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education. d. Licensure/Certification/Registration. None. f. 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. g. Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements. h. English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f). Grade Determinations: Medical Support Assistant, GS-03. Experience or Education. None beyond the basic requirements. Assignment. This is an entry level MSA position. It is expected that MSAs at this level will receive guidance from more experienced staff members and require frequent and direct supervision. Medical Support Assistant, GS-04. Experience or Education. (a). Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade.; OR (b). Education. One year of education above high school. Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs).In addition to the experience or education above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: (a) Knowledge of basic medical terminology to assist in the provision of care to patients. (b) Skill in recording patient messages and understanding physician requests pertaining to follow-up medical care in internal or external clinics. (c) Ability to meet, communicate, and interact with individuals from varying backgrounds and other health care team members in a courteous and helpful manner in order to facilitate medical care for patients. (d) Ability to use, and navigate between, various types of office automation equipment and software (i.e., computer systems, web-based scheduling programs; insurance collection system; scanning software, multiple line phone systems; electronic faxing programs) to support patient care. Assignment. This is a developmental level MSA position. It is expected that MSAs at this level will receive minor and less frequent guidance from higher experienced staff members for more difficult tasks. Assignments at this level include, but are not limited to: scheduling and rescheduling patients for treatment; interviewing patients for appointments; referring patients to other medical specialty clinics; providing information to patients necessary to resolve VA Handbook complaints; interacting with both internal and external customers; reviewing and documenting medical outpatient and inpatient electronic health records, as well as administrative records Medical Support Assistant, GS-05. Experience or Education. (a) Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade; OR (b) Education. Two years of education above high school. Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition to the experience or education above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: (a) Advanced knowledge of medical terminology specific to understand medical diagnosis and procedures sufficient to communicate clinical staff instructions to patients. (b) Skill in customer service with the ability to identify customer concerns, and refer to the appropriate staff, as necessary, to ensure asatisfactory resolution. (c) Ability to operate computerized programs and systems in order to enter, modify, and retrieve sensitive medical and patient identifyinginformation (PII) into or from electronic health records, scheduling systems, and/or reports. (d) Ability to schedule medical appointments in a clinical setting. (e) Ability to work independently in the accomplishment of a wide variety of duties performing patient support work. (f) Ability to communicate effectively and professionally in person, electronically, and/or by telephone, with internal and external customers. Assignment. This is the full performance level for MSAs. At this level, the MSA independently performs a full range of duties related to the delivery of health care services in an inpatient or outpatient setting. Advises clinical staff on current administrative processes. The MSA is responsible for answering phones, greeting patients, relaying messages to appropriate staff inside or outside of the unit, and scheduling appointments, including interpreting and verifying provider orders in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-5. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-3 to GS-5.
Before you apply
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