Summary The employee serves as a Lead Medical Support Assistant (Lead MSA) under the Department of Ambulatory Care at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The Lead MSA will serve as administrative support to assigned section/clinics within Ambulatory Care. These clinics include but are not limited to: the Call Center, a CBOC, Primary Care, Mental Health, or Specialty Care or Specialty Care Modules). Responsibilities The Lead MSA is responsible for planning and directing the MSA's activities as they relate to improved performance, patient flow, and clinic operations. Lead MSA will act as a mentor/educator and may lead training sessions as necessary for improved employee performance within their assigned section or to cover MSA duties from a different section. The Lead MSA will be the liaison between the MSA's and the designated supervisory official (or delegated authority during absence and/or vacancy of primary supervisor) within the section to help problem solve any scheduling, administrative, or systems issues that arise. The Lead MSA will work closely with the Supervisory MSA, Supervisory Clinical Admin Specialist, Administrative Officer, Business Manager, and with various departments outside of Ambulatory Care to troubleshoot/resolve pertinent issues and improve administrative workflow. The Lead MSA will be responsible for learning all applicable scheduling policies and procedures, ensuring the MSA team is knowledgeable of the scheduling rules, regulations, processes, and procedures. The employee serves as a versatile resource, dedicated to the management of patient care, patient flow, and promotes the general efficiency and effectiveness of the outpatient administrative setting. The Lead MSA will identify processes and procedures in the clinic that need improvement, working in collaboration with the leadership of the clinic to prioritize and address areas for improvement. The Lead MSA will be responsible for monitoring key metrics and escalating concerns to supervisory staff. Duties include but are not limited to: 1. Scheduling, cancelling, and re-scheduling patient appointments by managing appointment requests (including but not limited to Return-to-Clinic Orders (RTC), Recall Reminders, Veteran's Appointment Requests (VAR), Consults, and Patient initiated requests) in accordance with scheduling business rules and policies, as outlined in VHA Directive 1230, Outpatient Scheduling Management, and VHA Directive 1232, Consult Management, utilizing scheduling programs as mandated by your supervisor. 2. Consult Management: Coordinate the scheduling/rescheduling of consults or forwarding of consults to community care using the various scheduling systems and tools. Contacts the Veteran to discuss VA and community care options, gathering the Veteran's scheduling preferences, and appropriately documents all mandatory consult scheduling elements in the Consult Toolbox (CTB). Responsible for tracking consult progress from file entry date to the scheduled date or cancellation of the consult. 3. Documenting all patient related correspondences and outreach for scheduling in the electronic medical record. 4. Check-in/check-out procedures for patient visits and ensuring patient demographics (to include but not limited to mailing address, contact information, email, etc.) are validated and up to date in the patient's record. Responsible for capturing Non-VA health insurance utilizing the Insurance Capture Buffer (ICB) software. 5. Logging into phone system application, (multiline phone system application) as directed by the supervisor, to answer incoming calls in accordance with standard operating procedures and customer service policy. 6. Responsible for managing incoming and outgoing digital and physical faxes. Distributes, receives, sorts, and delivers incoming and outgoing mail or other documents to the appropriate individuals. 7. Responding to incoming correspondences, including, but not limited to, Microsoft Outlook emails, Microsoft Teams Messages, Voicemails, and Secure Messaging within the timeliness parameters as designated supervisor/department. 8. Responsible for Lobby Management, including, but not limited to: monitoring the cleanliness of the lobby (escalating concerns to other departments as necessary), restocking flyers and brochures, and addressing Veterans that have been waiting longer than 15 minutes. 9. Appropriately complete initial paperwork for walk-in "triage" patient's, notifies the appropriate nursing staff members and bring urgent matters to the immediate attention of clinical staff. Collaborates effectively with other staff to ensure patient concerns are addressed. 10. Responsible for processing view alerts per VHA policy timelines. 11. The incumbent may provide on-the-job training to new employees in accordance with established procedures and practices and may provide feedback to new employees. 12. The Lead MSA may be tasked to provide training to employees within various sections within their department. 13. Lead MSA may be tasked to perform timekeeping duties as assigned. Other duties as assigned. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am-4:30pm or as determined by supervisor. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not authorized. Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not authorized. Requirements Conditions of Employment You must be a U.S. Citizen to apply for this job. All applicants tentatively selected for VA employment in a testing designated position are subject to urinalysis to screen for illegal drug use prior to appointment. Applicants who refuse to be tested will be denied employment with VA. 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 (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. Must pass pre-employment physical examination. 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. In determining if your employment advances the public interest, we may consider: your performance and conduct; the needs and interests of the agency; whether your continued employment would advance organizational goals of the agency or the Government; and whether your continued employment would advance the efficiency of the Federal service. Upon completion of your trial period, your employment will be terminated unless you receive certification, in writing, that your continued employment advances the public interest. Qualifications Lead Medical Support Assistant, GS-7 Experience. One year of experience equivalent to the [GS-6] grade level. Demonstrated Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities. Candidates must demonstrate all of the KSAs below: 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. Ability to utilize numerous advanced patient systems in support of multiple clinics in an interdisciplinary setting. Ability to organize work, set priorities, and delegate tasks/responsibilities in order to meet deadlines. Skill in communicating with individuals to obtain the desired effect and coordinating with a variety of interdisciplinary care team staff. Ability to provide staff development and training. 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. Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/. Physical Requirements: The work is mostly sedentary. It typically requires sitting with sustained periods of concentration. There will be some walking, standing, bending, and carrying of relatively light objects. The position may also require stooping, reaching, lifting, pulling, and other moderate exertion or strain. Incumbent may occasionally have to walk some distance to a meeting. English Language Proficiency. MSAs must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with VA Handbook 5005, Part II, Chapter 3, Section A, paragraph 3.j. 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: Education There is 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.
