Medical Support Assistant (Medical Receptionist)

Overview

CVP seeks Medical Support Assistants to join our team in support of Community Care scheduling operations for the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) VISN 20, serving Veterans across Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. 

As an Medical Support Assistant, you will coordinate care between VA and community providers, schedule appointments, and ensure Veterans receive timely and appropriate care. 

Responsibilities

• Perform the full range of receptionist and administrative duties, including customer service, maintaining appointment schedules for one or more clinics or units, operating office machines, storing and distributing materials, delivering messages, and adhering to business standards and operating procedures within each respective clinic or ward. 
• Process Community Care consults from intake through closure, including outreach to Veterans and community providers, scheduling appointments, and escalating issues per VHA Directives and Standard Operating Procedures. 
• Complete accurate scheduling using the Electronic Waiting List and VA scheduling systems, ensuring all appointments are made with the patient's input either in person or by phone, and attempting to avoid patients having to make multiple trips to the medical center whenever possible. 
• Complete scheduling actions within the Timeliness Standard: scheduling shall be completed within 7 calendar days from the File Entry Date of the consult or after consult/task assignment. 
• Conduct a daily review of active and pending consults, Electronic Wait List, Recall list, and Audio Care communications for accuracy and disposition. 
• Notify the VA Shift Supervisor when clinic access is less than desirable or when an individual patient cannot be scheduled within mandated clinic timeframes. 
• Assist with clinic access contingency plans by adjusting appointment times, locations, or dates and shifting patients to other healthcare providers as conflicts with staffing and coverage occur. 
• Ensure patient safety standards are met by using the correct Veterans Affairs identification of all patients, using two forms of identification including name and full Social Security Number. 
• Use each interaction with the patient to validate and update demographic information, either in person during check-in or over the phone, to decrease the incidence of returned mail due to incorrect addresses and inability to contact patients due to incorrect phone numbers. 
• Explain the VA's mandate to collect insurance information to Veterans, their families, and other eligible patients; collect, scan, and update health insurance information to support the revenue process by identifying patients with third-party insurance. 
• Ensure that all necessary health and administrative information is integrated into the Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) or Electronic Health Record Modernization (EHRM) system correctly, maintaining a documentation and data integrity accuracy standard of ≥98%. 
• Screen and receive phone calls in a courteous and timely manner; determine the nature of the request and provide the information desired using privacy protocols and established clinic processes. Return voicemails within 24 hours and respond to urgent instant messages within 5 minutes. 
• Interact with patients, visitors, staff, family members, and others in a courteous, helpful, and cooperative manner, demonstrating respect and cooperation at all times. 
• Demonstrate the VA's core values of Integrity, Commitment, Advocacy, Respect, and Excellence (ICARE) in all customer interactions. 
• Listen to concerns of customers and resolve complaints and concerns effectively and promptly, with initiation within 24 hours and resolution within 48–72 hours. 
• Maintain privacy and confidentiality for patients, families, medical records, and electronic information by following all applicable policies, procedures, and federal regulations on confidentiality of information, including HIPAA. 
• Safeguard medical records by ensuring computer screens are inaccessible to unauthorized individuals and that all Privacy Act material is secured; utilize appropriate guidelines and channels of communication when releasing confidential information. 
• Meet daily productivity targets of 37 touches per day and 10 resolutions per day and maintain Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) including appointment accuracy ≥95% and patient satisfaction ≥85%. 
• Participate in mandatory team meetings including daily huddles and Performance Improvement (PI) calls. 
• Complete all required VA onboarding, HIPAA, Privacy, Confidentiality, Information Security, and cybersecurity training prior to beginning performance. 
• Comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, VHA policies, and place-of-performance procedures, including records manag