Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

This Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) position is in the Care in the Community service of the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System (CAVHS) located in North Little Rock, Arkansas.

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

The Advanced Medical Support (AMSA) Position serves as a facilitator for Veteran care and referrals to private sector providers and organizations within the community.

The primary duties of the Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) may include but are not limited to:

• Acts upon referrals provided by VA Physicians to assist veterans in scheduling outside visits
• Ensuring veterans keep their scheduled appointments, conduct follow up necessary as part of their treatment and retrieval of medically pertinent information (medical records)
• Ensuring that proper billing is pre-authorized
• Maintains appointment schedules for Community Care
• Communicating with Community Care providers to ensure they accept VA patients and payments
• Maintain current provider agreements or contracts
• Prepares any required pre-appointment documents
• Process and document the consults following proper guidelines/ procedures
• Obtains medical documentation from community providers
• Coordinates internal and external care between customers and providers
• Audits authorizations, reviews payments, and reconciles with community providers on outstanding claims
• Investigates problems or situations, which require special action, and initiates actions within purview to correct the problem and expedite care for the veteran
• Performs general clerical duties in a PACT team environment, which include routine DHCP/CPRS entry and extraction of data and/or reports
• Operates/uses routine office equipment to include DHCP computer terminals or PC's, printers, telephones, copy machines, fax machines, card imprinters, embossers, etc.
• Works closely with all Community Care staff and provide assistance to other areas/units/sections
• Performs work involving the collection, compilation and/or tracking of data and statistical information in support of organization's program operation
• Receives and processes documents and reports in accordance with establish procedures
• Reviews documents and reports for completeness and enters pertinent information into an automated tracking system

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm. Subject to change based on the needs of the service.
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: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 00457F
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Basic Requirements

• United States Citizenship. Be a citizen of the United States (U.S.). Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens according to 38 U.S.C. § 7407(a).
• Experience and Education.
  • (1) Experience. No experience required
  • (2) Education. High school diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education.
• Certification. None required.
• English Language Proficiency. Medical Support Assistants must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

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. Resume must include hours per week for work experience credit.

Medical Support Assistant (Advanced), GS-06
(a) 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.

(b) 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.).

(c) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs). In addition, you must demonstrate ALL of the following KSAs in your resume:

1. 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.
2. Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
6. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians.

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-06.

Physical Requirements: Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for the occupation, see Duties section for essential job duties of the position. May require standing, lifting, carrying, sitting, stooping, bending, puling, and pushing. May be required to wear personal protective equipment and undergo annual TB screening or testing as conditions of employment.

Work Environment: Work is performed in an office/clinic setting with minimal risks that requires normal safety precautions; the area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated. However, the work environment requires someone with the ability to handle several tasks at once in sometimes stressful situations.

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/.

• You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job.
• Selective Service Registration is required for males born after 12/31/1959.
• Must be proficient in written and spoken English.
• Subject to background/security investigation.
• Selected applicants will be required to complete an online onboarding process. Acceptable form(s) of identification will be required to complete pre-employment requirements (https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-acceptable-documents). Effective May 7, 2025, driver's licenses or state-issued identification cards that are not REAL ID compliant cannot be utilized as an acceptable form of identification for employment.
• Participation in the seasonal influenza vaccination program is a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP).
• Complete all application requirements detailed in the "Required Documents" section of this announcement.

As a condition of employment for accepting this position, you will be required to serve a 1 or 2-year trial period during which we will evaluate your fitness and whether your continued employment advances the public interest. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider:

• your performance and conduct;
• the needs and interests of the agency;
• whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and
• whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service.

Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest.