The incumbent serves as a Patient Advocate within a VA Medical Facility. On behalf of the VA Medical Facility Director, this position covers a variety of difficult and/or complex patient concerns, issues, and contacts for the Facility with the goal of providing resolution.

Duties

Duties include but are not limited to: Collaborates with facility staff in the creation, development, and implementation of initiatives and actions that improve the patient experience. Serves as the liaison between the facility, patients, staff, and the community to ensure Patient Rights and Responsibilities and advocacy services are available. Assists patients in understanding their rights, in addition to, their responsibilities. Explains a variety of government laws, directives, and policies to individuals of varying levels of educational and cultural backgrounds. Communicates patients' concerns, opinions, and needs to appropriate staff and management. Communicates trends to facility leadership to help drive system improvements. Presents patient issue data and patient inquiry trends at meetings and/or to committees. Explores all avenues, crossing all lines of authority and responsibility within a medical facility, in order to properly identify the nature and scope of the problem and to initiate appropriate action to expedite a resolution. Facilitates resolution to problems beyond the capability of front-line staff. Resolves difficult and complex patient complaints. Identifies the elements of clinical or administrative practices that contribute to or create an atmosphere for patient dissatisfaction. Participates in resolution of system problems by presenting the patient's perspective of the problem and the desired resolution. Identifies training needs for front-line staff in resolving issues on first contact. Reviews and interprets information contained in medical and administrative records. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday, 7:30am to 4:00pm Telework: VA supports the use of telework as a way to help attract and retain talented individuals in public service, increase worker productivity, and better prepare the agency to operate during emergencies. This position may be authorized for telework. Telework eligibility will be discussed during the interview process. Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Patient Representative/PD80443A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 11/06/2023. Time-In-Grade Requirement: Applicants who are current Federal employees and have held a GS grade any time in the past 52 weeks must also meet time-in-grade requirements by the closing date of this announcement. For a GS-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-9. The grade may have been in any occupation, but must have been held in the Federal service. An SF-50 that shows your time-in-grade eligibility must be submitted with your application materials. If the most recent SF-50 has an effective date within the past year, it may not clearly demonstrate you possess one-year time-in-grade, as required by the announcement. In this instance, you must provide an additional SF-50 that clearly demonstrates one-year time-in-grade. Note: Time-In-Grade requirements also apply to former Federal employees applying for reinstatement as well as current employees applying for Veterans Employment Opportunities Act of 1998 (VEOA) appointment. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-11 Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-09 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes: plan, organize, develop, direct and evaluate administrative processes; collect and analyze relevant data, and prepare reports; identify and resolve issues, train, and consult with staff; Determine, document, monitor and maintain and respond verbally and in writing to congressional, service organization, community group, or other inquiries related to the patient inquiries. Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have a Ph.D. or equivalent doctoral degree, or, 3 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree, or, LL.M., if related to knowledge, skills, and abilities of the position. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and education beyond some specialized experience equivalent to the GS-9 grade level but less than one year, and I have more than two years, but less than three years of graduate education. I have computed the percentage of these requirements that I meet, and the total is at least 100% for the GS-11 grade level. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Analysis and Problem SolvingCommunicationConflict ManagementCritical ThinkingCustomer ServiceInterpersonal Skills 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. Note: A full year of work is considered to be 35-40 hours of work per week. Part-time experience will be credited on the basis of time actually spent in appropriate activities. Applicants wishing to receive credit for such experience must indicate clearly the nature of their duties and responsibilities in each position and the number of hours a week spent in such employment. Physical Requirements: The work includes walking, standing, bending, carrying of light items, and occasionally assisting with a wheelchair. In some instances, relationships with patients and caregivers can become intense and the incumbent is constantly exposed to high levels of stress and anxiety. This position demands emotional stability, as the incumbent is deeply involved with many challenging, seriously ill, and/or dying patients and their caregivers. For more information on these qualification standards, please visit the United States Office of Personnel Management's website at https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/classification-qualifications/general-schedule-qualification-standards/.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

A transcript must be submitted with your application if you are basing all or part of your qualifications on 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: http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ous/international/usnei/us/edlite-visitus-forrecog.html.

Contacts

• Address Jonathan M Wainwright Memorial VA Medical Center 77 Wainwright Drive Walla Walla, WA 99362 US
• Name: Heidi Winters
• Phone: 509-434-7607
• Email: [email protected]