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Position serves as an Advanced Medical Support Assistant in the San Francisco VA Healthcare System's Office of Community Care. Performs duties related to coordinating care in the community such as authorizing referrals, scheduling appointments, and indexing electronic health care information and records. Receives and resolves incoming calls from Veterans, caregivers, community and VA providers and other customers.
03/04/2025 to 09/30/2025
$62,469 - $81,206 per year
GS 6
7 vacancies in the following location:
No
No
Not required
No
Permanent
Full-time
Competitive
None
No
No
OCA-FY25-0679-91509884
833204500
This is an OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will remain open until September 30, 2025. Open to Current, Permanent Employees of the San Francisco Department of Veterans Affairs Employees. The initial cut-off date for referral of eligible applications will be March 31, 2025, with subsequent cut-off dates on the 1st of each month. Eligible applications received after that date will be referred at regular intervals or as additional vacancies occur on an as-needed basis until positions are filled.
The Advanced MSA will interface with numerous clinical and administrative applications required for scheduling, coordination, and management of Community Care referrals. FUNCTIONS: The Advanced MSA works collaboratively with staff at the Medical Center, Contract Vendors, Medical Center affiliates, Community Healthcare Providers, and any Third Party Administrator(s) to coordinate Veteran Community Care and Tri-West activities. This coordination involves multi-disciplinary communication and coordination as a member of a cross-functional team. Advanced MSA assists with the coordination of records between Medical Center, OCC providers and coordinate the return of outside records to the CPRS/VISTA Imaging System to process results to the VA Provider. Advanced MSA maintains effective and efficient communication with the patient, the interdisciplinary team, VA Medical Centers, contract providers and community providers. The Advanced MSA(s) supports Patient Safety standards using the correct Veterans Affairs identification of all patients using two forms of identification, name and full social security number.
The Advanced MSA will coordinate the daily duties for Office of Community Care, which includes but not limited to the processing authorizations under the Outpatient medical care programs, Inpatient medical care, and miscellaneous other Community Care programs. Care Coordination may be complicated by planned and unplanned absences of other Community Care staff. Changes in priorities maybe required to meet deadlines. The Advanced MSA assists with developing and recommending proposals for the purpose of improving workload distribution, efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity. Based on defined objectives by the Supervisor, the Office of Community Care Services determines specific steps to take and implements those using standard operating procedures (SOPs).
The Advanced MSA uses interpretive skills to follow a variety of technical manuals and instructions, medical center policies, public laws, legal guides, and federal regulations to give instructions to patients, arrange appointments, record data involving outpatient appointments (authorization numbers, date and times of appointments, provider contact information, etc.) using automated medical records systems like VistA. Furthermore, the Advanced MSA is required to have abroad understanding of related programs and how they impact the local, network, and national Community Care functions. Frequently, reference materials (technical manuals, directives, policies, etc.) are not completely applicable to some of the work or have gaps in specificity due to the constantly evolving program requirements surrounding Community Care. The Advanced MSA must exercise judgment to adapt and interpret guidelines to address specific issues and problems (payment issues, patient complaints, additional requests for services, implementation of new programs) as they arise during performance of day-to-day operations.
The Advanced MSA coordinates care for Veterans eligible for the Community Care Program which includes processing consults, coordinating care with Community Providers and/or Third-Party Administrators and ensuring that the Veteran receives the necessary medical appointment timely. The Advanced MSA coordinates and assures that medical records are received timely, and the Community Care consult is completed and closed when all the treatment has been received. The Advanced MSA coordinates between the VA Medical Staff and the Community Providers and/or Third-Party Administrators to ensure that all necessary treatment is provided. The Advanced MSA is required to coordinate all assigned Community Care Consults including those that were not previously eligible. These consults are required to be processed timely assuring that the Veteran receives the necessary medical treatment in the Community. The Advanced MSA is responsible for ensuring the processing and coordination of all Hospital Notifications on Veterans that are treated emergently in a Community Hospital. This requires the coordination with VA Medical Staff and Community Providers' Medical Staff so that the Veteran receives the necessary medical treatment.
Other duties as assigned.
Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm or as determined by supervisor.
Remote: This is a NOT virtual position.
Financial Disclosure Report: Not required
OPEN CONTINUOUS ANNOUNCEMENT and will remain open until September 30, 2025 or until filled.
The initial cut-off date for referral of eligible applications will be March 31, 2025, with subsequent cut-off dates on the 1st of each month. Eligible applications received after that date will be referred at regular intervals or as additional vacancies occur on an as-needed basis until positions are filled.
There is no education substitution at this grade level.
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.
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.
You will be evaluated for this job based on how well you meet the qualifications above.
IN DESCRIBING YOUR EXPERIENCE, PLEASE BE CLEAR AND SPECIFIC. WE MAY NOT MAKE ASSUMPTIONS REGARDING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Your application, resume, C.V., and/or supporting documentation will be verified. Please follow all instructions carefully. Errors or omissions may affect consideration for employment.
Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religions; spiritual; community; student; social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
The Department of Veterans Affairs performs pre-employment reference checks as an assessment method used in the hiring process to verify information provided by a candidate (e.g., on resume or during interview or hiring process); gain additional knowledge regarding a candidate's abilities; and assist a hiring manager with making a final selection for a position.
It is the policy of the VA to not deny employment to those that have faced financial hardships or periods of unemployment.
Veterans and Transitioning Service Members: Please visit the VA for Vets site for career-search tools for Veterans seeking employment at VA, career development services for our existing Veterans, and coaching and reintegration support for military service members.
To apply for this position, you must provide a complete Application Package which includes:
Education must be accredited by an accrediting institution recognized by the U.S. Department of Education in order for it to be credited towards qualifications. Therefore, provide only the attendance and/or degrees from schools accredited by accrediting institutions recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.
Failure to provide all of the required information as stated in this vacancy announcement may result in an ineligible rating or may affect the overall rating.
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 09/30/2025 to receive consideration. To preview the questionnaire click https://apply.usastaffing.gov/ViewQuestionnaire/12694285.
Once your online application is submitted you will receive a confirmation notification by email. After we receive application packages (including all required documents) and the vacancy announcement closes, we will review applications to ensure qualification and eligibility requirements are met. After the review is complete, a referral certificate(s) is issued and applicants will be notified of their status by email. Referred applicants will be notified as such and may be contacted directly by the hiring office for an interview. All referred applicants receive a final notification once a selection decision has been made.
You may check the status of your application at any time by logging into your USA Jobs account and clicking on Applications. Information regarding your application status can be found in the USAJobs Help Center.
NOTE: Participation in the seasonal influenza program is a condition of employment and a requirement for all Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel (HCP). It is a requirement that all HCP to receive annual seasonal influenza vaccination or obtain an exemption for medical or religious reasons. Wearing a face mask is required when an exemption to the influenza vaccination has been granted. HCP in violation of this directive may face disciplinary action up to and including removal from federal service. HCP are individuals who, during the influenza season, work in VHA locations or who come into contact with VA patients or other HCP as part of their duties. VHA locations include, but are not limited to, VA hospitals and associated clinics, community living centers (CLCs), community-based outpatient clinics (CBOCs), domiciliary units, Vet centers and VA-leased medical facilities. HCP include all VA licensed and unlicensed, clinical and administrative, remote and onsite, paid and without compensation, full- and part-time employees, intermittent employees, fee basis employees, VA contractors, researchers, volunteers and health professions trainees (HPTs) who are expected to perform any or all of their work at these facilities. HPTs may be paid or unpaid and include residents, interns, fellows and students. HCP also includes VHA personnel providing home-based care to Veterans and drivers and other personnel whose duties put them in contact with patients outside VA medical facilities.
The Federal hiring process is set up to be fair and transparent. Please read the following guidance.
This job originated on www.usajobs.gov. For the full announcement and to apply, visit www.usajobs.gov/job/833204500. Only resumes submitted according to the instructions on the job announcement listed at www.usajobs.gov will be considered.