Advanced Medical Support Assistant
Department of Veterans Affairs
Veterans Health Administration \- Dental Service
Summary
The Advanced Medical Support Assistant serves as a San Francisco VA HealthCare System Dental Service supporting Front Desk and clinical service areas. Serves as a Medical Support Assistant and provides clerical and administrative support for Dental Service.
This job is open to
The public
U.S. Citizens, Nationals or those who owe allegiance to the U.S.
Duties
Advanced MSA's Determines dental eligibility through interpretation of Federal regulations, monitors the status and progress of work, and makes day\-to\-day adjustments in accordance with established priorities, obtaining assistance from the supervisor on problems that may arise. Gives on\-the\-job training to new employees in accordance with established procedures and practices. Provides information via telephone and in person to the general public, members of the professional staff, civilian, and military personnel in response to inquiries regarding appointments.
Advanced MSA's enters, manipulates, and retrieves information and data from the Vista and other clinical information systems as appropriate to area assigned. Determines whether a veteran is eligible for dental care, and if eligible, determines the type of dental eligibility category he or she falls under. Enters dental eligibility information into Dental Record Manager. Completes mini registration and chart compilation. Complete requested forms, manually or using automated systems, for individual patient orders for blood work, X\-rays, radiation therapy, respiratory or ventilated care consults and other requests as required. Schedules and coordinates appointments for patients with various clinics, ensuring all treatment requested by the physician has been scheduled, and rescheduling appointments when necessary. Coordinates the scheduling to avoid conflicts in different clinic schedules. Ensures appointments are timely and in accordance with physicians' requests. Explains necessary test preparations to patients. Receives telephonic requests for information and transmits requests to the appropriate physician. Assists clinic administrator and other personnel with workload
accountability information. Obtains and reviews medical records of patients prior to scheduled appointments. Records a variety of physicians' orders on a timely basis to various charts, identifying abbreviations comprising medication orders. Assures proper completion and filing of original medical documentation and forms in records prior to forwarding to medical records room. Ensures the patient completes all necessary forms prior to being seen by the provider. Functions as co\-ADPAC coordinator for Dental Service.
Maintains all patients' records, either electronic or paper, according to regulation insuring each entry contains proper patient and health care proper identification. Correctly files original medical documentation in the patient record and copies of medical documentation into research files as necessary. On discharge, transfer, or completion of appointment verifies and assures that the record of the patient treatment is administratively complete. Performs Quality Assurance monitoring using appropriate tools regarding the completion and contents of the patient record.
Location: Santa Rosa, CA
Salary: $63,094 \- $82,021 per year
Pay Scale \& Grade: GS\-6
Work Schedule: Monday to Friday; 8am \- 4:30pm
Telework: Not Available
Virtual: This is not a virtual position
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.
- You may be required to serve a trial period.
- 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 dentification 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).
- 401(k)
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Paid sick time
- Paid time off
- Retirement plan
- Vision insurance
- Must be a U.S. Citizen
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: Advanced Medical Support Assistants must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Policy.
Creditable Experience Knowledge of MSA Practices. To be creditable, the experience must have demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) associated with current MSA responsibilities or an equivalent administrative patient support role in a non\-VA medical inpatient or outpatient setting. Experience satisfying this requirement may be paid/non\-paid employment as an MSA or an equivalent position in a non\-VA hospital or clinic setting.
Quality of Experience. Qualifying experience must be at a level comparable to MSA experience or equivalent administrative clinical support role in a non\-VA medical inpatient or outpatient setting] at the next lower grade level. For all assignments above the full performance level, the higher\-level duties must consist of significant scope, administrative independence, complexity (difficulty), and a range of varieties as described in this standard, at the specified grade level and be performed by the incumbent at least 25% of the time
Part\-Time Experience. 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).
Grade Determinations: For GS\-06 In addition to the basic requirements you must demonstrate that you possess one year of specialized experience at the next lower grade level (GS\-05\).
Preferred Experience: Experience gained while working in a medical office, hospital, inpatient/outpatient clinic, Ancillary Service, Call Center, Care of Community Care, Consult Scheduling, Direct Scheduling, Interdisciplinary Coordinated Care Delivery Models, PACT TEAMLETS, Patient Systems, Radiology/Imaging/Nuclear Medicine, Specialty Clinics, Veterans Appointment Request, VistA Scheduling Graphical User Interface (VS GUI), Ward. Applying administrative judgment, the use of wide range of clinical flow processes relating to access to care across multiple clinical, specialties. Recommends changes to existing clinic procedures based on current guidelines.
You will be rated on the following Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities based on your application for this position: Please make sure that each is addressed in detail in the body of your resume.
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 healthcare process including, but not limited to, scheduling across interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery and/or care in the community models and patient healthcare 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.
References: VA Handbook 5005, PART II, APPENDIX G45 Medical Support Assistant VA Qualification Standards. Can be found in the local Human Resources Office.
The full performance level of this vacancy is GS\-06. The actual grade at which an applicant may be selected for this vacancy is GS\-06\.
Physical Requirements: This is primarily a sedentary position. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019
Education
No education substitution at this grade level.
Additional information
Receiving Service Credit or Earning Annual (Vacation) Leave: Federal Employees earn annual leave at a rate (4, 6 or 8 hours per pay period) which is based on the number of years they have served as a Federal employee. Selected applicants may qualify for credit toward annual leave accrual, based on prior work experience or military service experience. This credited service can be used in determining the rate at which they earn annual leave. Such credit must be requested and approved prior to the appointment date and is not guaranteed.
During the application process you may have an option to opt\-in to make your resume available to hiring managers in the agency who have similar positions. Opting in does not impact your application for this announcement, nor does it guarantee further consideration for additional positions.
This job opportunity announcement may be used to fill additional vacancies.
This position is in the Excepted Service and does not confer competitive status.
VA encourages persons with disabilities to apply. The health\-related positions in VA are covered by Title 38, and are not covered by the Schedule A excepted appointment authority.
If you are unable to apply online or need an alternate method to submit documents, please reach out to the Agency Contact listed in this Job Opportunity Announcement.
Under the Fair Chance to Compete Act, the Department of Veterans Affairs prohibits requesting an applicant's criminal history prior to accepting a tentative job offer. For more information about the Act and the complaint process, visit Human Resources and Administration/Operations, Security, and Preparedness (HRA/OSP) at The Fair Chance Act.
Pay: $63,094\.00 \- $82,021\.00 per year
Benefits:
Application Question(s):
Work Location: In person