Advanced Medical Support Assistant

Summary

The incumbent serves as an Advanced Medical Support Assistant in the VA Care Community Section (VACC) at the Oscar G. Johnson VA Medical Center in Iron Mountain, Michigan, under Nursing and Patient Care Service. The incumbent's work impacts the administrative aspect of patient care, including: access, scheduling/ coordinating patient appointments using advanced clinic access principles, collecting and updating demographics and insurance information and customer service.

Duties

• VA Careers - Medical Support Assistant: https://youtube.com/embed/EE9c4XkaELo Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Major Duties: The Advanced MSA works collaboratively in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model: Provides administrative support to clinicians and other administrative and professional staff to coordinate patient care. Administrative scheduling and appointment coordination for diagnostic testing, and consultative appointments for many clinical services. Receive phone calls in a courteous and timely manner, determine the nature of requests, provide the information desired using privacy rules and established processes. Explaining procedures to Veterans and their family both in person and on the phone. Independently manage position responsibilities with little supervision as well as set priorities and deadlines adjusting the flow and sequencing of work to meet team and patient needs. Generating authorizations for pre-authorized outpatient, unauthorized and emergency care claims, while making eligibility determinations for the various programs in VACC. Works closely with utilization review to ensure proper authorizations are issued and appropriate correspondence is sent to vendors. Acts as a liaison between the veteran and the vendors with regard to the VACC section and VA clinical services. Obtains requested reports, x-rays, labs and any pertinent information required to complete the VACC Coordination consult in CPRS. Ensures all necessary components and documentation is distributed to appropriate services at the private institution where service will be provided. Prioritizes requested procedure based on urgency. Maintain a current directory of contact information in Excel, to include name, address, phone, and fax numbers of institution, contact person. Generating correspondence to the Veterans and various providers and managing all received correspondence related to their Community Care. Provides advisory and technical assistance to Veterans and staff in answering questions. Determines the nature of Veterans' needs, questions or complaints. Provides necessary information to the staff and the patient, dealing with a wide range of problems including atypical and complex situations. Incumbent utilizes HSRM and VISTA to manage and coordinate appointment management with the creation of authorizations as outlined by the Office of Integrated Veteran Care (IVC) Field Guidebook. Other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Full-time, Monday - Friday, 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): 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) 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 #: 09367F Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized

Qualifications

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 VA Policy. Experience: None Education: High School Diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education. Physical Requirements: See VA Directive and Handbook 5019. English Language Proficiency: MSA's must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j. 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: Medical Support Assistant (Advanced), GS-06 Experience: One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade (GS-05) AND Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs): In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs: KSA-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. KSA-2. Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations. KSA-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. KSA-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. KSA-5. Advanced knowledge of policies and procedures associated with interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery and/or care in the community operational activities that affect the 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. KSA-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/. 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.

Requirements

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. Must pass pre-employment physical evaluation. 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.

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/.

How to apply

All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the full questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 09/21/2026 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/13062764. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date.