Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

Clarification from the agency

1. Areas of Consideration are as follows: 1. Current permanent VA employees of the facility {first area of consideration}. 2. Current permanent VA employees of other facilities (VA Wide). 3. Public / US Citizen NOTE: The 2-page Resume requirement does not apply to this position. For more information, refer to Required Documents below

Major duties include but not limited to;

• Interprets and applies Veterans Health Administration (VHA) scheduling policies, business rules, and directives.
• Collaborates and communicates with a wide range of medical clinicians across multiple disciplines to accomplish setting to ensure medical care to the patient is met.
• Schedule appointments in accordance with VHA Directive 1230 and VHA Directive 1232 (2); including canceling, re-scheduling, and no showing patient appointments and/or consults.
• Process Return to Clinic Orders (Query from ISS) upon check-out. If unable to complete at check-out, task must be completed within (3) days of entry.
• Process View Alerts for accurate disposition.
• Ensures appropriate patient actions are taken within ISS (scheduling, check-in, check-out, and
• no-shows).
• Extracts medical information from electronic records when requested by Providers, Social Workers, Nurses, and Supervisors while maintaining HIPPA standards.
• Ensures patient encounters are completed for clinics assigned by the end of each business day (no-shows and patient cancellations through AudioCare, VEText, etc.).
• Coordinates patient transportation and/or travel concerns with the Veterans Transportation Service and Bene-Travel Staff.
• Provides information on medical center policies and procedures.
• Notifies Supervisor when clinic access is less than desirable or if an individual patient cannot be scheduled within mandated clinic timeframes.
• Responsible for the tracking and management of consults for clinics assigned.
• Responsible for providing feedback to providers when additional information for scheduling is required.
• Ensures consults greater than 90 days have proper documentation for additional scheduling attempts or dispositioning as directed by VHA Directive .

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 7:00am - 3:30pm, 7:30am - 4:00pm, 8:00am - 4:30pm or 8:30am - 5:00pm.Work schedule may vary based on the geographic location and based on the needs of the agency.
Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases
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 #: 62141F

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.
• Must pass pre-employment physical examination.
• 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 Language Proficiency: Applicants appointed to direct patient care positions must be proficient in spoken and written English.
• 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
• Licensure/Certification/Registration. None.

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).

GS-6 Grade Determinations: In addition to the basic requirements for employment listed in above, candidates must meet the following grade-determining criteria for placement at grade levels specified.

Experience. One year of creditable experience equivalent to the next lower grade.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. In addition to the experience above, the candidate must demonstrate the following KSAs:

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians.
4. 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.
5. Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations.
6. Ability to communicate tactfully and effectively, electronically, by phone, in person, and in writing, with internal and external customers.

Preferred Experience: None

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

The full performance level of this position is a GS-6.

Physical Requirements: The work of the positions is primarily sedentary; however, some walking, standing, bending stooping and lifting up to 30 pounds

How you will be evaluated

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

Area of Consideration - Eligible applications will be reviewed and referred in the following order:
1. Current permanent VA employees of the facility.
2. All other VA employees.
3. Public / US Citizens.
NOTE:: Veterans' Preference is not applicable to VA employees or employees of other Federal agencies.

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:

• 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), most recent SF-50's (current/former Federal employees), etc.

• Cover Letter
• DD-214/ Statement of Service
• Disability Letter (VA)
• Resume/CV
• Other (2)
• Resume
• SF-15
• SF-50/ Notification of Personnel Action
• Transcript

Next steps

Additional locations