Medical Support Assistant

Clarification from the agency

This announcement is open to current, permanent employees of Minneapolis VA Health Care System, including CBOC employees. The public and other current, permanent federal employees should apply to: CBSY-13057297-26-AP NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position.

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

Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional

Major duties include, but are not limited to:

• Performs receptionist, customer service, and administrative duties for proper and timely treatment of patients.
• Demonstrates substantial skill in planning, organizing, problem solving, and decision making.
• Maintain appointment schedules for one or more outpatient clinics.
• Demonstrates high level of oral and written communication skills.
• Administrative support to our clinical colleagues in care of our Veterans.
• Utilizing patient data systems.
• Scheduling, rescheduling and cancellation of appointments for ingoing and outgoing customers and communication.
• Appointment check in/out, verification of provider orders, recall reminders, manual and electronica data entry and reviewing/updating patient demographics and insurance verification.
• Inbound and outbound phone calls.
• Determine nature of requests and provide information desired using privacy rules and established clinic processes.
• Requests medical records from community healthcare facilities, schedules consultation appointments, special procedures, etc. to coordinate care.
• Contacting new patients for appointment reminders, no shows, recall reminders and if necessary enters notes into CPRS and removes them from recall.
• Interpret and communicate requirements of the VHA Scheduling Directives and policies.
• Daily review of return to clinic and recall delinquency list.
• Protects printed and electronic files containing sensitive data in accordance with the Privacy Act of 1974, policies and regulations.
• Attends scheduled training sessions and participates in medical center/service level safety promotions as directed by supervisor.

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm
Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized
Telework: Ad-Hoc
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized

Conditions of employment

• 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.

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.
• 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 Determinations:

GS-03: Entry Level
Experience or Education: None beyond the basic requirements.

GS-04: Developmental
Experience. One year of experience in clerical, office, customer service, or other administrative work that indicates the ability to acquire the particular knowledge and skills needed to perform the duties of the position.
OR
Education. One year of education above high school.
AND
Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. Candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs below:

• KSA-1: Knowledge of basic medical terminology to assist in the provision of care to patients.
• KSA-2: Skill in recording patient messages and understanding physician requests pertaining to follow-up medical care in internal or external clinics.
• KSA-3: 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.
• KSA-4: 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.

GS-05: Full Performance
Experience: One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade. To be creditable, this experience must be equivalent to the next lower grade level, GS-04, and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities associated with current MSA responsibilities. Experience at this level includes, but is 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 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:

• KSA- 1: Advanced knowledge of medical terminology specific to understand medical diagnosis and procedures sufficient to communicate clinical staff instructions to patients.
  KSA-2: Skill in customer service with the ability] to identify customer concerns, and refer to the appropriate staff, as necessary, to ensure a satisfactory resolution.
  KSA-3: 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.
  KSA-4: Ability to schedule medical appointments in a clinical setting.
  KSA-5: Ability to work independently in the accomplishment of a wide variety of duties performing patient support work.
  KSA- 6: Ability to communicate effectively and professionally in person, electronically, and/or by telephone, with [internal and external customers.

Preferred Experience: Experience in computer systems and a support role; such as an assistant, program support, answering phones and customer service.

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-05. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is in the range of GS-03 to GS-05.

Physical Requirements: This position requires long periods of sitting and extensive fine motor skills and exertion to the upper extremities. Rigid deadlines and need for high degree of accuracy periodically becomes stressful. Incumbent is expected to practice safe work habits and use ergonomically correct body mechanics to avoid injury.

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.

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:

• Long-form resume/Curriculum vitae (CV)
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action

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
• DD-214/ Statement of Service
• Disability Letter (VA)
• Long-form resume/Curriculum vitae (CV)
• RECOMMENDED: Write to the Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSAs) on a separate document - KSAs are found under qualification/grade requirements in the announcement.
• Performance Appraisal
• SF-15
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

Next steps