Medical Support Assistant

This position is located at the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the MIS Division, Benefits Management Program, Intake/Entitlement Section. The purpose of this position is to provide advisory and technical assistance to patients and beneficiaries seeking medical treatment, information, or guidance from the Medical Center.

VA Careers - Medical Support Assistant: https://youtube.com/embed/EE9c4XkaELo

Major Responsibilities
- Greeting Veterans reporting to the Intake Unit and directing them appropriately.
- Answering questions within clear, established guidelines and referring complex matters to a higher-graded MSA.
- Collecting basic demographic information and performing initial data entry into VA systems.
- Assisting with document gathering needed for eligibility and enrollment processing.
-Supporting higher-graded staff with routine administrative tasks related to demographic and insurance updates.
- Learning procedures for processing transfers, eligibility checks, and financial assessments, but only assisting-not independently performing-these tasks.
- Escalating all complex eligibility, entitlement, or regulatory questions to GS-4, GS-5, or Supervisory MSA
- Maintaining confidentiality and following established security and administrative procedures.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 07:30 to 16:00
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 09923F; 09924F; 009925F
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

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 the VA policy.
English: Must be proficient in basic written and spoken English,

Education/experience:

• Experience. No experience required.
• Education. Must possess a High school diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education.

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 Requirements: In addition to the basic requirements, you must meet the grade requirement:

GS-3:
Experience or Education. None beyond the basic requirements.

OR

GS-4:Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade.

OR

Education. One (1) year of education above high school.

AND

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. Candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs below:

• 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.
• 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.
• Knowledge of basic medical terminology to assist in the provision of care to patients.
• Skill in recording patient messages and understanding physician requests pertaining to follow-up medical care in internal or external clinics.

GS-5:
Experience: One year of experience equivalent to the GS-4 grade level. Experience 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; verifying third party insurance and updating information in the Insurance Capture Buffer (ICB) system; obtaining medical information from patients; coordinating information and actions related to patient care and services; and scheduling appointments in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines.

OR,

Education: Two years of education above high school;

AND,

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: Candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs below:

• Ability to operate computerized programs and systems in order to enter, modify, and retrieve sensitive medical and patient identifying information (PII) into or from electronic health records, scheduling systems, and/or reports.
• Advanced knowledge of medical terminology specific to understand medical diagnosis and procedures sufficient to communicate clinical staff instructions to patients.
• Ability to schedule medical appointments in a clinical setting.
• Ability to work independently in the accomplishment of a wide variety of duties performing patient support work.
• Ability to communicate effectively and professionally in person, electronically, and/or by telephone, with internal and external customers.
• Skill in customer service with the ability to identify customer concerns, and refer to the appropriate staff, as necessary, to ensure a satisfactory resolution

Reference: 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.

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. 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)

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.