This position is located at the Wilmington VA Medical Center (WVAMC) serving as the Supervisory Patient Representative - Veteran Experience Officer. This supervisory position is a key point of contact for internal and external customers work in collaboration with facility Patient Representatives on complex issues or complaints where use of tact, diplomacy, sound judgment, compassion, flexibility, and strong communication skills are extremely important.

Duties

Patient Advocacy within VA exists to ensure patient concerns are heard and addressed to improve the overall experience and quality of care for patients. Effective, high-functioning Patient Advocacy is integral to fulfilling the goal of providing Veterans with world-class health care. Major duties and responsibilities include: Data Management and Process Improvement Leads and supervises the team and provides the day-to-day work direction, review, and distribution, balance, and adjustment of workload Monitors and reports on the progress of the team's work and provides updates to the supervisor Coaches and develops the team using appropriate tools and techniques to address a variety of issues and situations Oversees general administrative issues regarding subordinates' leave, scheduling, appointments, etc. Provides the team formal and informal training information related to patient advocacy service, customer service, techniques, and resources needed to educate themselves Provides higher-level data management and analysis function for the Patient Advocate team Develops and maintains organizational dashboards and data sets Regularly produces cumulative reports which includes a categorization of patient inquiries to track and trend the patterns to identify opportunities for improvement Complaint Resolution Leads and Supervises and oversees the facility Veteran Centered Complaint Resolution (VCCR) process, including complaint resolution, data capture, and analysis of issues/complaints to make system improvements Works in collaboration with Patient Advocates, Service-Level Advocates (SLAs), and front-line staff to resolve complex issues that occur at the point of service or due to further investigation of the problem(s) Addresses complaints and proactively explores all avenues to identify the nature and scope of the problems and initiates appropriate action to expedite resolutions Patient Advocate Representation and Relationship Management Serves as the liaison between the facility, patients, staff, and the community, ensuring Patients understand their rights, in addition to, their responsibilities Determines causes of patient dissatisfaction, misinformation, or complaints and documents patient encounters and contacts appropriate services to establish resolutions Leads and supervises, ensuring that rounds throughout the facility are conducted on a routine basis to solicit patient feedback and build strong relationships with SLAs and service leadership. Leads and supervises staff in responding to patients' inquiries through multiple VA approved forms of contact (e.g., Inquiry Routing and Information System (IRIS), My HealtheVet, Secure Messaging, E-mail, Phone, Walk-in, Town Halls, etc.), where patients pose questions, complaints, compliments, and suggestions. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Supervisory Patient Representative - Veteran Experience Officer/PD020400 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Financial Disclosure Report: Not required ****All required documentation must be uploaded before the announcement closes, to support eligibility.**** Failure to submit documentation will constitute the application being categorized as incomplete and therefore ineligible for referral.

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 01/11/2024. 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-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. 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 as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-12 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: working directly with health care teams and management as a patient advocate to facilitate resolution to problems; ensuring patient advocacy goals, policy and requirements are met; collecting, analyzing, and evaluating relevant data; identifying existing or potential problem areas and suggesting solutions or alternatives; serving as a liaison between a medical facility, patients, and staff to ensure Patient Rights and Responsibilities, advocacy, and services are available. This experience must be detailed in your resume to receive credit. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: CommunicationConflict ManagementCritical ThinkingDeveloping OthersHuman Capital ManagementPlanning and Evaluating 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. The work environment involves the normal risks typical of an office with the additional risk of dealing with patients who may be hostile and/or are not in touch with reality. Visits are routine to the units/clinics, as well as administrative offices in the Facility. This position may encounter patients with medically emergent needs/situations and illnesses/conditions that are considered infectious. 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/. ****All required documentation must be uploaded before the announcement closes, to support eligibility.**** Failure to submit documentation will constitute the application being categorized as incomplete and therefore ineligible for referral.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level.

Contacts

• Address Wilmington VA Medical Center 1601 Kirkwood Highway Wilmington, DE 19805 US
• Name: Amanda Griffin-Fikes
• Phone: 216-791-2300 X42198
• Email: [email protected]