Supervisory Medical Support Assistant

The Supervisory Medical Support Assistant serves as a direct line supervisor within the Care in the Community Service (CITC) at VA Illiana Health Care System. The Supervisory MSA serves as the direct line supervisor for the Medical Support Assistant(s), Lead Medical Support Assistant(s) and File Clerks and is a foundational role within CITC working as front-line staff to receive calls from Patient Aligned Care Teams (PACTs), Pharmacy, Social Work, HIMS, Veterans, and community providers.

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

• Plans and directs programs at VAIHCS and has full supervisory responsibility for supervising at least one Lead MSA.
• Assign and evaluate the work of subordinate staff; resolving complex problems to ensure patient services are met; evaluating new programs, equipment, and systems in order to make recommendations for improved operations;
• Identifying educational or training needs; making final decisions on selections; evaluating performance and taking disciplinary action when necessary.
• Full administrative and professional responsibility for planning and directing the Lead MSAs, MSAs and File Clerks activities.
• Responsible for extracting and analyzing data in order to provide reports in support of performance measures to senior management.
• Works collaboratively in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model for CITC, PACT and/or Specialty Clinics and performs customer service and other duties assigned for the proper and timely treatment of patients and assures records are scanned appropriately and timely.
• Supports patient safety standards using the correct Veterans Affairs identification of all patients through the use of two forms of identification.
• When assisting the MSA staff, he/she must use each interaction with the patient to validate and update patient demographic information over the phone, to decrease the incidence of returned mail due to incorrect addresses and inability to contact patient by phone due to incorrect number.
• Assures MSA staff explains the VA's mandate to collect insurance information to veterans, their families, and other eligible patients. The incumbent(s) contributes to the revenue collection process by identifying patients with third party insurance.
• Promotes Veteran registration for and utilization of MyHealtheVet (MHV).
• Assures front line contact with patients and staff by setting the tone for perception concerning quality of healthcare services at the VA.
• When records are received, ensure that all necessary health/administrative information are integrated into Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) by sending the documents to the File Clerk for scanning.
• Ensure the File Clerk scans records to appropriate chart timely and appropriately.
• Review scans done by the file clerk for accuracy, discussing and educating them on any errors found.
• Screen/receive phone calls in a courteous and timely manner, determine the nature of requests and provide the information desired using privacy rules and established clinic processes.
• Train staff on the call center processes and scanning processes in an efficient and effective manner to ensure functions, goals and timelines are understood and met.
• Participate in the daily team huddles and weekly team meetings where patient care planning and management occur. This includes providing front-line workload coverage during periods of staffing difficulties. Incumbent(s) will rotate this to assure all MSA staff and File Clerks are in attendance and understand the process.
• Independently manage position responsibilities with little supervision as well as set priorities and deadlines adjusting the flow and sequencing of the work to meet team and patient needs.

Work Schedule: Full-time, Monday-Friday, 7:30am-4:00pm
Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not authorized
Telework: Not available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 00796F
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 06/24/2026.

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.
• 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.

Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements, you must meet the grade specific requirement:

GS-08 Specialized Experience: One (1) year of specialized experience equivalent to the GS-07 grade level, leading or supervising MSAs or equivalent administrative patient support staff in a medical inpatient, outpatient or interdisciplinary setting. Specialized experience must include the ability to organize work, set priorities, and delegate tasks/responsibilities in order to meet deadlines; skill in communicating with individuals in order to obtain the desired effect, ensuring compliance with established policies and regulations; ability to provide staff development and training; ability to manage staffing requirements, manage priorities, and coordinate work in order to complete duties in an accurate and timely manner; ability to follow-up on pending issues and demonstrating an understanding of the impact of incomplete work; and the ability to review and monitor data to ensure all reports are complete and accurate; advanced knowledge of managing a clinic; advanced knowledge of policies and procedures associated with operational activities that affect patient flow, patient care, and the revenue process; and advanced knowledge of medical terminology.
AND
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

• Ability to provide the full range of administrative and supervisory duties which includes assignment of work, performance evaluations, selection of staff, and recommendation of awards and/or advancement.
• Ability to collaborate, communicate, and demonstrate customer service and interpersonal skills with internal and external customers to ensure quality/continuity of care and ensure compliance with established policies and regulations.
• Ability to provide briefings, orientations, staff development, and training in a patient support setting.
• Ability to manage fiscal matters, forecast resource and equipment needs, and identify budget needs.
• Advanced knowledge of managing or leading patient support staff in a clinic. This includes independently utilizing reference sources, decision making, and empowering the team to collaborate and resolve problems within a complex systems environment.

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-08.

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. The position is not suitable for telework.

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.