Medical Support Assistant OCA; GS

Summary

The Medical Support Assistant (MSA) serves at the Birmingham‑AL Health Care System within the Access & Office of Community Care. This Open & Continuous Announcement (OCA) closes on 02/27/2026. The initial cut‑off date for referral of eligible applications will be on or about 11/07/25, with subsequent reviews every two weeks as additional vacancies occur or on an as‑needed basis until positions are filled.

Please see the "What To Expect Next" area of the announcement for additional information.

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.

• United States Citizenship:
  Non‑citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Experience:
  
  Six months 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 position, or one year above high school education, or an equivalent combination of experience and education acceptable for entry level.
Grade Requirements – Creditable

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. For GS‑4:

• One year of experience in clerical‑office‑customer service or other administrative work.
• Two years of education above high school.

• This is a developmental level MSA position. It is expected that MSAs at this level receive minor and less frequent guidance from higher experienced staff members for more difficult tasks. Assignments include scheduling and rescheduling patients for treatment, interviewing patients for appointments, referring patients to other medical specialty clinics, providing information to patients necessary to resolve complaints, interacting with both internal and external customers, reviewing and documenting medical outpatient and inpatient electronic health records as well as administrative records, verifying third‑party insurance and updating information, obtaining medical information from patients, and coordinating information and actions related to patient care and services.
• Demonstrated KSAs:
• Ability to meet, communicate, and interact with individuals from varying backgrounds and other health care team members in a courteous and helpful manner in order to facilitate medical care for patients.
• Ability to use and navigate between various types of office automation equipment and software (computer systems, web‑based scheduling programs, insurance collection system, scanning software, multiple line phone systems, electronic faxing programs) to support patient care.
• Knowledge of basic medical terminology to assist in the provision of care to patients.
• Skill in recording patient messages and understanding physician requests pertaining to follow‑up medical care in internal or external clinics.
• GS‑5 (Full performance level):
  • Experience:
    
    One year of experience equivalent to the GS‑4 grade level including the KSAs above.
  • Education:
    
    Four years of education above high school.
  • Assignments:
    Independently performs a full range of duties related to the delivery of healthcare services in an inpatient or outpatient setting. Responsible for answering phones, greeting patients, relaying messages, scheduling appointments, including interpreting and verifying provider orders in accordance with VHA national scheduling guidelines. Assignments include scheduling, canceling, re‑scheduling patient appointments and/or consults, entering no‑show information, monitoring appointment requests from multiple electronic sources, and participating in huddles with other MSAs and/or clinic staff to determine the daily needs of the clinic.
  • Demonstrated KSAs:
  • Ability to operate computerized programs and systems to enter, modify, and retrieve sensitive medical and patient identifying information (PII) into or from electronic health records, scheduling systems, and reports.
  • Advanced…