LEAD MEDICAL SUPPORT ASSISTANT

The Marion, IL VA Medical Center is seeking a full-time Lead Medical Support Assistant (MSA) to join Nursing Service Primary Care as part of an inter-professional healthcare team. The Lead MSA provides support across multiple ancillary and inter-professional clinics to determine the needs of the Veteran/caregiver. Responsible for routing clinical questions to appropriate clinical staff, provides information on programs/initiatives and provides administrative referrals of services as needed.

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: Must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, part II, chapter 3, section A, paragraph 3j.
• 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.

NOTE: Part-time experience as an MSA or equivalent administrative patient support in a non-VA medical inpatient or outpatient setting is creditable according to its relationship to the full-time workweek. For example, an MSA employed 20 hours a week, or on a 1/2-time basis, would receive one full-time workweek of credit for each two weeks of service.

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:
Advanced Medical Support Assistant, GS-6:
Assignment: The Advanced MSA provides 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, makes adjustments as necessary; develop and maintain effective/efficient communication with the patient, interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model teams ,VA medical centers, and other agencies. Other assignments include, but are not limited to: processes incoming patient secure messaging through MyHealthyVet and coordinates with care team as appropriate; participates in team huddles and team meetings to manage, plan, problem solve, and follow-up with patient care by sharing information and collaborating with the interdisciplinary team; setting priorities and deadlines, adjusting the flow and sequencing of the work to meet team and patient needs; identifies incomplete encounters and communicates findings to providers; as needed; assists the team to reinforce the plan of care and self-help solutions; enters appropriate information into the electronic record; monitors pre-appointment information and/or requirements to assure readiness for patient visit/ procedure; manages patient systems to verify and validate accuracy and resolve issues; evaluates patient information and clinic schedule lists to determine whether the patient requires an immediate appointment; informs team members about shared patients i.e., those who receive their care at multiple VA centers or those who receive care in the community.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Candidates must demonstrate ALL of the KSA's Below:
1. Ability to organize work, set priorities, and delegate tasks/responsibilities in order to meet deadlines.
2. Skill in communicating with individuals to obtain the desired effect, ensuring compliance with established policies and regulations.
3. Ability to provide staff development and training.
4. Ability to manage staffing requirements, manage priorities, and coordinate with staff in the unit in order to complete duties in an accurate and timely manner. This includes the ability to follow-up on pending issues and demonstrate an understanding of the impact of incomplete work.
5. Ability to review and monitor data to ensure all reports are complete and accurate.

Lead Medical Support Assistant, GS-7:
Experience: One year of experience equivalent to the GS-6 grade level.
Assignment: The Lead MSA is responsible for the coordination of Advanced MSA assignments and workflow found in an interdisciplinary unit. The Lead MSA is responsible for daily workload assessments, assigning work, and assuring proper staffing coverage; evaluating training records; and determining training needs of MSAs to provide support across interdisciplinary settings. The Lead assists the unit with complex and non-standard procedures, including clinical flow processes related to access to care across multiple clinics, specialties, and/or community resources. Assignments at this level include, but are not limited to: ensuring accurate and timely scheduling of appointments; providing guidance to staff members, to include changes in policies and procedures; creating and maintaining employee work schedules; and acting as a liaison among Advanced MSA staff, patients, and other interdisciplinary staff to resolve day-to-day conflicts. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher-level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity (difficulty) and range of variety as described in this standard at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time.

Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. Candidates must demonstrate ALL of the KSAs 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.

References: VA Handbook 5005/117, Part II, Appendix G45, MEDICAL SUPPORT ASSISTANT QUALIFICATION STANDARD, dated August 1, 2019. This can be found in the local Human Resources Office.

The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-07. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS-7.

Physical Requirements: The work is sedentary. Typically, the Advanced MSA sits comfortably to do the work. However, there may be some walking, standing, bending, carrying of light items, etc. No special physical demands are required to perform the work.

Responsibilities:

The Lead MSA is assigned to a Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT) model within the Marion VA Health Care System. The Lead MSA monitors work assignments, provides input on performance, resolves daily workplace issues and maintains efficient workflow. Responsibilities include but are not limited to: assuring coverage of all areas of responsibility; conducting ongoing reviews to ensure quality of work and that staff are in compliance with applicable policies and procedures i.e., Scheduling Directive, Patient Information Collection Management (PICM), Insurance Capture, Pre-Registration, Open Encounter management, etc.; ensuring accurate and timely scheduling of appointments by conducting and documenting routine scheduling audits; providing guidance to staff members to include changes in policies and procedures; distributing and balancing workload; creating and maintaining employee work schedules; orienting and providing on-the-job training for new and current employees; ensuring all training requirements are met; organizing the work structure of his/her assigned areas; and acting as liaison between MSAs and staff in order to resolve day to day conflicts.

Other assignments include, but are not limited to:

• Assist with scheduling, cancelling, re-scheduling patient appointments and/or consults
• Ensuring coverage for PACT MSAs when on scheduled or unscheduled leave
• Ensuring encounters are completed daily and no-shows have been completed
• Maintain and assist with clinic access contingency plans by adjusting times, location or dates

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Compressed/Flexible: No
Telework: Adhoc
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #:
Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized
Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Salary : $46,696 - $60,703