Patient Support Assistant Jobs in Minnesota (NOW HIRING)

Summary
The incumbent serves as an Advanced Medical Support Assistant (AMSA) in the VA Community Care (VACC) Service Line. The AMSA works 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 community care clinics, specialties, and/or community resources.
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Duties
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Duties of this position are, but not limited to:

• Coordinates with the patient community care team to review the clinic utilization by using various reports (e.g., Community Care Dashboard, consult toolbox), ensuring that the consults are closely monitored to effectively support the needs of the team.
• They develop/maintain effective and efficient communication with the patient, interdisciplinary team, VA medical centers, and other agencies (e.g., assist with communications during the inpatient to outpatient discharge; communicate with non-VA medical facilities; facilitate/process secure messaging with the patient and team; develop and manage a tracking system such as but not limited to HRSM for follow up care such as consults, tests, etc.).
• Recommends changes to existing Community Care procedures based on current administrative guidelines.
• Expertise in utilizing numerous advanced patient systems in support of multiple Community Care and VA clinics involved in an interdisciplinary coordinated care delivery model.
• Coordinates with the patient care team to review appointment availability through a variety of tools (such as but not limited to EPIC, HSRM, etc.) in the community to ensure community care access is monitored to effectively support the needs of the Veterans being sent to the community.
• Other assignments at this level include, but are not limited to: participating in team huddles and team meetings to manage and plan patient care; setting priorities and deadlines, adjusting the flow and sequencing of the work to meet team and patient needs.
• Participating and providing input in problem solving on operational issues or procedures in team meetings, performing administrative follow up actions (records management, authorizations, etc.).
• Incumbents must be able to interpret and communicate requirements and assist in training/mentoring others.
• Determine eligibility for care and receive referrals as needed, or direct Veterans to proper departments for assistance if needed.
• Create referrals/authorizations for episodes of care prior to care being received and applying an appropriate cost for obligation management if appropriate, confirming authorized services and validity dates.
• Work with VACC contractors, vendors/agencies to ensure timely appropriate care is provided for Veterans.
• Schedule appointments per the scheduling policy accurately and in a timely manner. All appointments will be made with the patient's input. This may require a high level of coordination to avoid patients having to make multiple calls to the medical center or provider whenever possible.
• Daily review of assigned consults for accuracy and disposition.
• Follow-up for medical documentation once appointments have occurred.
• Ensure medical documentation is scanned or uploaded to chart for timely consult closure, and ongoing care needs are met.
• Manage communication, to include but not limited to the phone lines/voicemails/inbound faxes/secure messages in a timely and appropriate manner.
• Manage/use all programs associated with VACC (e.g., computerized medical record, VAOS, SharePoints, VSE, RefDocs, Right fax, HRSM, PPMS, VISTA, EPIC, EPSI, CTM, etc and use of portals and databases as needed).
• Manage vendor communications timely and accurately for proper disposition.
• Manage consults with local and national contracts timely and accurately or proper disposition.
• The Advanced MSA will ensure appropriate Authorization using current process, tools and authorities. They will ensure accurate scheduling information is recorded in the scheduling package.

Work Schedule: Monday thru Friday, 8:00am-4:30pm CST
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: Ad Hoc may be available.
Virtual: This is not a virtual position.
Functional Statement #: 000000
Requirements
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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.
• 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 identification 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).
• 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
Basic Requirements:

• Citizenship: Be a citizen of the United States (U.S.). Non-citizens may be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens according to 38 U.S.C. § 7407(a).
• Experience. No experience required.
• Education. High school diploma, General Education Development equivalency certificate, or proficiency certificate from a State or territorial-level Board or Department of Education.
• Licensure/Certification/Registration. None
• Physical Requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements. See VA Directive and Handbook 5019, Employee Occupational Health Service for requirements.
• English Language Proficiency. Candidates must be proficient in spoken and written English in accordance with 38 U.S.C. § 7403(f).

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).
Medical Support Assistant (Advanced) GS-6
This position is above the full performance level for this job series and requires experience beyond the basic requirement for positions in this occupation. You must meet the basic requirements and the following:
REQUIRED EXPERIENCE: One year of experience equivalent to the GS-5 grade level that equips the candidate with the following:

1. Operate computerized programs and systems in order to enter, modify, and retrieve sensitive medical and patient identifying information (PII) into or from electronic health records, scheduling systems, and/or reports;
2. Advanced knowledge of medical terminology specific to understand medical diagnosis and procedures sufficient to communicate clinical staff instructions to patients;
3. Schedule medical appointments in a clinical setting;
4. Work independently in the accomplishment of a wide variety of duties performing patient support work;
5. Communicate effectively and professionally in person, electronically, and/or by telephone, with internal and external customers;
6. Customer service with the ability to identify customer concerns, and refer to the appropriate staff, as necessary, to ensure a satisfactory resolution.

AND Candidates must be able to demonstrate all of the Knowledge, Skills and Abilities below:

1. 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.
2. Ability to independently set priorities and organizes work to meet deadlines, ensuring compliance with established processes, policies, and regulations.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.

Preferred Experience: Experience with using multiple computer systems.
Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.
The full performance level of this vacancy is 6.
Physical Requirements: You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position. Questions about physical demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination.
Education
Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.
Additional information
Receiving Service Credit for 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.
The VA Midwest Health Care Network advocates for a Whole Health System of care in each of the Medical Centers. This is an approach to healthcare that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their lives to the fullest. As an employee operating in a Whole Health System of care, you will operate in a model with three core elements, seeking to create a personalized health plan for each Veteran. This is done in the context of healing relationships and healing environments and a connection back to the Veteran's community. This aligns with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Mission Statement to Honor America's Veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being.
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.
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