Clarification from the agency

This position is open to current, permanent employees of the Ann Arbor VA Medical Center. NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below.

Major duties of this position include, but are not limited to:

• Assuring coverage of the Community Care Services Unit;
• Conducting ongoing reviews to ensure quality of work; ensuring accurate and timeliness of the Community Care process in accordance with Community Care Guidelines.
• Assigning workload to individual Community Care MSAs, providing guidance to other MSAs to include changes in the policies and procedures;
• Distributing and balancing workload; orientating and providing on the- job training for new and current MSAs in the Community Care Services Department in all Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems;
• Organizing the work structure of his/her assigned areas,
• Acting as liaison between MSA's and staff in order to resolve day to day conflicts, and completing other duties and special projects as assigned by the Community Care Chief or Supervisors.
• Monitoring vacation schedules to ensure adequate coverage in the Community Care Services Department is met.
• Provide supportive assistance to the Veterans to assure prompt attention to their authorizations and performs at a competent level.
• Responsible for delivering administrative support to the staff and supervisors associated with the Community Care process.
• Coordinate with the private sector to authorize and schedule care.
• Receive consult requests for long-term and short-term authorization of outpatient fee basis Community Care.
• Review medical information to determine type of treatment necessary, extent of treatment, estimated costs of Community Care and adequacy of medical information presented.
• Responsible to lead one to two groups of Medical Support Assistants (MSA) at a GS-5 and/or GS-6 level and responsible to their supervisor for ensuring that the work assignments for their teams are carried out by performing a range of duties.
• Distribute and balance the workload among employees in accordance with established work flow or job specialization, assure timely accomplishment of assigned workload, and assure that each employee has enough work to keep busy.
• Estimate and report on expected time of completion of work, and maintain records of work accomplishments and time expended and prepare reports as requested;
• Instruct employees in specific tasks and job techniques and make available written instructions, reference materials and supplies.
• Assists with unusual situations which do not have clear precedents.
• Plan and carry out successive steps of work assignments.
• Independently handles scheduling problems and deviations based on personal knowledge of clinic operations and policy, schedules, and provider's preferences.

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 07:30am - 4:00pm
Telework: Ad Hoc
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 944080
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized

Conditions of employment

• 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 dentification 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 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.

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:

• 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. 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.
• Licensure/Certification/Registration. None
• English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements above, applicants must meet the following experience:

GS-07 Lead Medical Support Assistant:
To qualify for the GS-07 level, you must have one year of experience equivalent to the GS-6 grade level. Experience at the GS-6 includes but is not limited to: providing 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
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: Candidates must also demonstrate all of the knowledge, skills, and abilities below:
1, Advanced knowledge of medical terminology and a wide range of clinical flow processes relating to access to care across multiple clinics, specialties, and/or community resources.
2. Ability to utilize numerous advanced patient systems in support of multiple clinics in an interdisciplinary setting.]
3. Ability to organize work, set priorities, and delegate tasks/responsibilities in order to meet deadlines.
4. Skill in communicating with individuals to obtain the desired effect [and coordinating with a variety of interdisciplinary care team staff].
5. Ability to provide staff development and training.
6. Ability to manage staffing requirements, manage workflow priorities, and adjust the flow of work to meet team and patient needs. This includes the ability to follow-up on pending issues and demonstrate an understanding of the impact of incomplete work across multiple clinics.

Preferred Experience: Community Care experience.

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-07. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is at the grade 07.

Physical Requirements: The work is mostly sedentary and requires incumbent to utilize a personal computer resulting in a large amount of keyboarding/data entry. Faxing clinical documentation to the outside providers/vendors at their request during the scheduling/approving process for Fee Basis care. Additionally, lifting and carrying items such as medical records, paperwork, folders and will be required to do tasks that require some fine manipulation skills/abilities. May be required to work many hours at a computer terminal.

How you will be evaluated

You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.

IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.

Your qualifications will be evaluated based on your application materials (e.g., resume, supporting documents), your responses on the application questionnaire, and your responses to all assessments required for this position. You will be assessed on the following Competencies for this position:

• Customer Service
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Reading Comprehension
• Reasoning
• Self-Management
• Teamwork

Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.

The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.

It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.

Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.

To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:

• Resume

Special Note for Applications: To complete your application, please use the following link https://vacareers.va.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/Resume.docx to download the standard Clinical Resume Document. This one-page document does not need to be modified and must be uploaded into the two-page restricted 'Resume' document upload field.

Your full resume/CV may be uploaded without page limitation into the 'Other' document upload field.

The following documents are accepted, and may be required if applicable to your eligibility and/or qualifications for this position. Please ensure you have included all documents required for your application, such as a copy of your transcript (if using education to qualify), SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), etc.

• Cover Letter
• Resume/CV (If over 2 pages long)
• Other (2)
• Other (3)
• Performance Appraisal
• Resume
• Separation Notice (RIF)
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

Veterans' preference does not apply for internal or other current permanent Federal agency employees.

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