The incumbent serves as an Advanced Medical Support Assistant in Radiation Oncology Service at the Ann Arbor VA Medical Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan. 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, managing the consult tracker, return to clinic visits, patient processing and customer service.
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: GS-6 Medical Support Assistant (Advanced): One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level. This experience includes: scheduling, canceling, re-scheduling patient appointments and/or consults; entering no-show information; monitoring appointment requests from multiple electronic sources; participating in huddles with other MSAs and/or clinic staff to determine the daily needs of the clinic, monitoring both inpatient and outpatient appointments in areas of responsibility; verifying and updating demographics and insurance information when patients check-in for appointments. Coordinates administrative functions relating to emergency and non-emergency transfers to other VA facilities or private hospitals and determines appointment type based on the patient's eligibility status. In addition, candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs below: 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. Ability to independently set priorities and organize work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations. 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. 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. 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. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology due to the technical nature of language utilized by clinicians. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. Physical Requirements: The work is mostly sedentary, although some slight physical effort will be required using computers/phones; there may be some light lifting/carrying of files/documents; and walking throughout the service/facility for meetings, etc.
Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Major duties of this position include, but are not limited to: Responsible for assuring that various aspects of staffing, training, compliance, reporting, quality assurance, and budgetary initiatives are met. These activities directly affect the revenue cycle, patient access to care, hospital performance goals and objectives, as well as VHA public image. Plays an integral role in identifying and developing ways to resolve problems with administrative and clinical staff on access, customer service, patient flow, revenue and data validation issues. His/her work also impacts processes, action plans, monitoring and reporting. Maintain appointment schedules for the various clinics within Radiation Oncology Service. Assist with clinical access contingency plans by adjusting appointment times, location or dates as well as shifting patient to other healthcare providers as conflict with staffing and/or coverage occurs. Must screen/receive phone calls in a courteous and timely manner, determine the nature of requests and provide the information desired suing privacy rules and established clinical processes. Independently manage position responsibilities with little supervision as well as set priorities and deadlines adjusting the flow and sequencing of the work to meet team and patient needs. Participate in huddles, Staff meetings and other meetings as necessary where patient care planning and management occur, except during staff shortages for coverage. Notify his/her supervisor when clinic access is less than desirable or if an individual patient cannot be scheduled with mandated clinic timeframes. Conduct daily review of active/pending consults, return to visit clinics, day's schedule and communications from staff regarding updates and changes for accuracy and disposition. Coordinate administrative services for Veterans and their family members, caregiver and public, administrative and clinical staff to ensure continuity of inpatient and outpatient care. Ensure that all necessary health/administrative information are integrated into Computerized patient Record System (CPRS) by sending the document to medical records. Develops and maintain effective working relationship with all clinical and administrative staff in determining priorities of activities in support of direct patient care. Interpret and apply a complex body of pertinent laws, regulations, directives, and polices that relate to the administration of VA Healthcare Benefits. Distribute and balance the workload among employees in accordance with established workflow or job specialization, assures timely accomplishment of the assigned workload. Work Schedule: Full time, Monday - Friday, 07:30am - 4:00pm Recruitment Incentive (Sign-on Bonus): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (Relocation Assistance): Not Authorized Pay: Competitive salary and regular salary increases When setting pay, a higher step rate of the appropriate grade may be determined after consideration of higher or unique qualifications or special needs of the VA (Above Minimum Rate of the Grade). 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 Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 92431A Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized