Department of Veterans Affairs

Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

Fayetteville, Arkansas Full time

Medical Support Assistant (Advanced)

Department: Department of Veterans Affairs

Location(s): Fayetteville, Arkansas

Salary Range: $48777 - $63407 Per Year

Job Summary: The Advanced MSA provides specialized and expert administrative patient support while working collaboratively in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model on the Office of Community Care (OCC), Veterans Healthcare System of the Ozarks (VSHO, Fayetteville, AR. The 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.

Major Duties:

  • Total Rewards of a Allied Health Professional Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) at this level develop and/or maintain effective and efficient communication with the patient, interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery, VA medical centers, and other agencies (e.g., assist with communications during the inpatient to outpatient discharge; communicate with non-VA medical facilities; prepare correspondence to notify patients of results: and manage a multiple complex systems for follow- up care such as consults, tests, etc. Duties may include but are not limited to: Screening new consults for non-VA care for eligibility. Correctly determines the veteran's eligibility to receive medical services. Assures authorization is obtained from appropriate service chief for procedures performed at non-VA facilities. Ensures that veteran appointments are made with other VA facility, contract site, or community providers of Veteran's choice as appropriate. Use of automated tracking tools as well as computers to perform a wide variety of recordkeeping, correspondence, and tracking operations is required. Informs providers and team members about patient's medical care by e-mails, fax, telephone and scanning medical documentation Into Veterans' electronic medical records. Demonstrates a high level of flexibility, teamwork, and multi-faceted skills by cross training to other areas within OCC lo provide coverage as needed. Multiple assignments varying in degree of difficulty to ensure patient needs are met, reducing internal transfers, and reducing barriers to unnecessary delays and patient care diversions. Ensures that all necessary health/administrative Information are integrated into Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) by sending the documents to the appropriate department. Screen/receive 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. Work Schedule: Full-time, 8:00am-4:30pm Monday-Friday; subject to change based on the needs of the service. Compressed/Flexible: Available. 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) 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: Ad-hoc; at the discretion of the service. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Functional Statement #: 564-00081-F Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized.

Qualifications: 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: 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 positions: or Education. One year above high school; or 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: In addition to the basic requirements for employment listed above, the following education and experience criteria must be met when determining the grade of candidates: Medical Support Assistant (Advanced), GS-6 Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the [GS-5] grade level. 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, and makes adjustments as necessary. MSAs at this level develop and/or maintain effective and efficient communication with the patient, interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model teams , VA medical centers, and other agencies (e.g., assist with communications during the inpatient to outpatient discharge; communicate with non-VA medical facilities; prepare correspondence to notify patients of normal lab results; manage a system for follow-up care such as consults, tests, etc.). Other assignments at this level 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. 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: 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/. The full performance level of this vacancy is GS-06. Physical Requirements: Physical aspects associated with work required of this assignment are typical for the occupation, see Duties section for essential job duties of the position. May require standing, lifting, carrying, sitting, stooping, bending, puling, and pushing. May be required to wear personal protective equipment and undergo annual TB screening or testing as conditions of employment. Work Environment: Work is performed in an office/clinic setting with minimal risks that requires normal safety precautions; the area is adequately lighted, heated, and ventilated. However, the work environment requires someone with the ability to handle several tasks at once in sometimes stressful situations

How to Apply: All applicants are encouraged to apply online. To apply for this position, you must complete the full questionnaire and submit the documentation specified in the Required Documents section below. The complete application package must be submitted by 11:59 PM (ET) on 11/10/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12825038. To begin, click Apply Online to create a USAJOBS account or log in to your existing account. Follow the prompts to select your USA JOBS resume and/or other supporting documents and complete the occupational questionnaire. Click Submit My Answers to submit your application package. NOTE: It is your responsibility to ensure your responses and appropriate documentation is submitted prior to the closing date.

Application Deadline: 2025-11-10