Patient Advocacy within VA exists to ensure patient concerns are heard and addressed to improve the overall experience and quality of care for patients. Patient Advocacy utilizes Patient Advocates, as well as, staff members across diverse services/departments who are dedicated to specifically working with patients and their caregivers to resolve complaints that arise at the point of service. The candidate will also work in the Allentown Community Based Outpatient Clinic.

Duties

Major duties, but not limited to: ensure patient concerns are heard and addressed to improve the overall experience and quality of care for patients responsible for complaint resolution with service recovery, receiving compliments, working with Service Level Advocates(SLAs) to help resolve issues and concerns and communicating with patients about their experiences of care collaborate with other facility staff in the creation, development, and implementation of initiatives and actions that improve the patient experience throughout the organization assist SLAs and front-line staff in resolving issues that occur at the point of service, while also addressing more complex complaints that were not able to be resolved at the point of service explores all avenues, in order to properly identify the nature and scope of the problem and to initiate appropriate action to expedite a resolution proactively identifies existing or potential problem areas and suggests solutions or alternatives to existing procedures which contribute to these problems serves as the liaison between the Facility, patients, staff, and the community, ensuring Patient Rights and Responsibilities, advocacy, and services are available interprets the Facility's mission, policies, procedures, and available resources/services to the patient and presents the patient's concern, opinions, and needs to appropriate staff and management recognizing and removing institutional barriers to the provision of optimum health care to patients assists patients in understanding the Clinical Appeal Process and how to proceed with a clinical appeal request for reconsideration serves as a staff member directly supporting facility Executive Leadership responsible for planning, organization, development, direction and evaluation of VA Medical Facility administration ensures VHA Patient Advocacy goals, policy and requirements are met by collecting, analyzing, and evaluating relevant data, and preparing meaningful reports based on that data produces, on a regular basis, a cumulative report which includes a categorization of patient inquiries to track and trend the patterns to identify opportunities for improvement maintains a strong and consistent focus on Complaint Resolution which must always be accompanied by attempts at Service Recovery maintain the attitude of taking a negative experience and turning it into a positive, memorable experience for patients and employees works closely in identifying, training, and consulting with SLAs, and front-line staff, in resolving issues on first contact within their service area and use of the Patient Advocate Tracking System-Replacement (PATS-R) tool maintains a strong relationship with Veterans Service Organizations and others whose interests are in helping and protecting Veterans, their families, and their representatives works closely with Public Affairs to include patients' feedback and increase community and Veteran awareness of VA health care resources. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Telework: Adhoc -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/PD99864S Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized Travel Required: Occasionally-Less than 25%-Candidate will be required to work out of both locations- Allentown, PA and Wilkes Barre, PA Financial Disclosure Report: Not required

Requirements

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 02/12/2024. 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-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: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-9 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization, related to the work of the position and has equipped you with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties as a Patient Representative/Advocate. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: providing customer service to patients and staff with resolving problems or complaints; identifying problem areas and suggesting solutions or alternatives; explaining policies and procedures; keeping accurate records and preparing reports and/or written correspondence; collaborating with facility staff to improve the patient experience. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have successfully completed two (2) years of progressively higher-level graduate education or masters or equivalent graduate degree, in a related field of the position to be filled. Education at the graduate level must have been obtained in an accredited college or university and must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of this position. OR, Combination: Applicants must have successfully completed graduate level education (beyond the first 2 years) and specialized experience as described above to meet total experience requirements. The education portion must include graduate courses that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do to the work of this position. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. Experience must be clearly indicated in your resume. You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position: Conflict ManagementInterpersonal EffectivenessVeteran and Customer Focus 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: A moderate level of physical energy is required. May be expected to meet with many people in many different locations in the course of a work week. It is expected that a portion of the services provided will be conducted away from the office, in the office of other agencies, in non-traditional settings, and in military, Reserve and National Guard facilities. The nature of the job requires travel throughout an assigned geographical area away from the work setting. 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.

A legible 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: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.

****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.

Contacts

• Address Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center 1111 East End Boulevard Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711 US
• Name: Katrina Paul
• Phone: (412) 822-3584
• Email: [email protected]