Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

Medical Support Assistant

Our mission is to fulfill President Lincoln's promise "To care for those who have served in our nation's military and for their families, caregivers, and survivors" by serving and honoring the men and women who are America's veterans. How would you like to become a part of a team providing compassionate whole health care to veterans? Responsibilities include serving as an advanced medical support assistant in radiology / nuclear medicine clinic at the Harry S Truman Va Medical Center in Columbia, Missouri. The incumbent's work impacts the administrative aspect of patient care, including access, scheduling / coordinating appointments using advanced clinic access principles, collecting, and updating demographic and insurance information, patient processing and customer service.

The duties include but are not limited to : performing receptionist duties, customer service and other assigned duties for the proper and timely treatment of patients. Maintaining appointment schedules for one or more outpatient clinics. Screening / receiving phone calls in a courteous and timely manner, determine the nature of requests and provide the information desired using privacy rules and established clinic processes. Generating patient workload reports for validation and monitoring activity in clinical areas to assure consistent and accurate reporting. Intervening to resolve difficult problems and diffusing potential dissatisfaction with VA services. Serving as timekeeper for imaging technologists, clerical staff, radiology residents, and physicians. Preparing weekly call schedules for the imaging department.

Work Schedule : 11 : 30am-8 : 00pm, Monday - Friday

Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus) : Not Authorized

Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance) : Not Authorized

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)

Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience.

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

Functional Statement # : 000000

Permanent Change of Station (PCS) : Not Authorized

Financial Disclosure : Not Required

Requirements 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.

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.

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 and Education : (1) Experience. Six months experience of 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, (2) Education : One year above high school; OR, (3) Experience / Education Combination : Equivalent combination of experience and education are qualifying for entry level for which both education and experience are acceptable.

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 :

(a) Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level.

(b) Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. Candidates must demonstrate ALL of the KSAs below :

i. 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.

ii. Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations.

iii. 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.

iv. 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.

v. 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.

vi. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians.

Preferred Experience : Advanced knowledge of managing a clinic, to include, independently utilizing references sources, decision making, and empowering the team to collaborate and resolve problems within a complex systems environment.

Reference : VA Handbook 5005 / 53, Part II, Appendix G45

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-6.

Physical Requirements : The work is generally sedentary. Typically, the employee sits comfortably to do the work, utilizing a computer, phone, and / or headset. However, walking, bending, pushing / pulling medical file charts, and carrying medical files, cases of paper, etc. are regularly necessary. No special physical demands are required to perform the work as long as extended periods of sitting and using a computer keyboard or mouse are tolerated.

Education IMPORTANT : There is no education substitution for the GS-6 Grade Level Additional Information