MedIcal Support Assistant (Advanced)

This position serves as an Advanced Medical Support Assistant within Inpatient Nursing Service, at the William S, Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital which is a tertiary care, teaching hospital affiliated with the University of Wisconsin Medical Center.

The purpose of this position is to serve as a Health Unit Coordinator (HUC) with the responsibility for clerical management and coordination of patient movement on the inpatient units.

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

The purpose of this position is to serve as a Lead Health Unit Coordinator (HUC) with the responsibility for leading others in clerical management and coordination of patient movement on the inpatient units, The Lead HUC leads others in initiating and completing clerical functions and receptionist duties related to the care and treatment of inpatients.

Duties include but are not limited to:

• Assuring coverage of all areas of responsibility
• Conducting ongoing reviews to ensure quality of work
• Ensuring accurate and timely scheduling of appointments
• Providing guidance to staff members to include changes in policies and procedures
• Distributing and balancing workload
• Creating and maintaining employee work schedules
• Orienting and providing on-the-job training for new and current employees
• Ensuring all training requirements are met
• Organizing the work structure of assigned areas
• Acting as liaison between MSA and staff in order to resolve day to day conflicts

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am to 4:30pm
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 01129F
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Basic Requirements:

US Citizenship is required. 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).

ENGLISH: Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

EXPERIENCE: No experience required.

EDUCATION: High school diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education.


IN ADDITION TO MEETING THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS LISTED ABOVE, YOU MUST MEET THE GRADE REQUIREMENTS AT THE GS-6 LEVEL TO QUALIFY FOR THIS POSITION.

GS-06 - 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.

Experience: One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level. At this grade level, experience consists of: scheduling, canceling, re-scheduling patient appointments and/or consults; entering no-show information; monitoring appointment requests from multiple electronic sources; participating in huddles with other MSAs and/or clinic staff to determine the daily needs of the clinic; monitoring both inpatient and outpatient appointments; verifying and updating demographics and insurance information when patients check-in for appointments.

AND

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills and Abilities (KSAs):

• 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.
• 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.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

Physical Requirements: The work required does not inherently include any physical requirements essential for successful job performance that could not otherwise be performed with accommodation or workplace adjustment. A pre-placement physical examination is not required.

The selected applicant must provide a High school diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education.

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.
• To be considered for this position, you must complete all required steps in the process. In addition to the application and questionnaire, this position requires an online assessment. The online assessment measures critical general competencies required to perform the 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.