This Transition Patient Advocate serves as the point of contact to assist transitioning Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom veterans and their families. As many of these veterans suffer from multiple complex health and mental health problems, including traumatic brain injury, amputations, burns, and post-traumatic stress disorder, this position is dedicated to ensuring severely injured service members and veterans have a personal advocate as they move through the VA system.

Duties

Major duties include: Serve as the Network Director's liaison between the medical centers, the patients, employees of the medical centers and the community regarding patients' rights and advocacy. Serve as the point of contact to assist transitioning Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) veterans and their families. Travel to Department of Defense medical treatment facilities and introduce themselves to the disabled veterans and at times personally escort disabled veterans to a VA Medical Center. Provide coordination of care, advisory and technical assistance to OIF/OEF veterans seeking medical care. Provide advice on eligibility in the VA system and assist with facilitating all aspects of care required/requested by the OIF/OEF veterans in collaboration with Social Work and Nursing Case Managers. Use computerized systems on a routine basis to monitor appointment timelines and ensure care is not lost to follow-up. Assist patients in understanding their rights in addition to their responsibilities. Provide information and assistance to veterans and family members regarding benefits, entitlement and eligibility to health care and veteran benefits. Identify the elements of clinical or administrative practices that contribute to or cause an atmosphere for patient dissatisfaction which lead to patient complaints and recommends to the Network Director changes that will reduce or eliminate justified complaints. Develop rapport and maintain effective relations with medical center personnel at all levels, i.e., management, supervision, professional staff, technicians, administrative and clerical staff. Communicate with individuals of different education, environmental, ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Maintain close liaison with congressional office and respond to their staff directly on matters involving patient dissatisfaction. Evaluate, process, or make recommendations for effective organizational changes. Develop and coordinate internal review systems to assure that both clinical and administrative activities are in compliance with agency and accrediting and regulatory requirements especially as they pertain to Patient Rights and Responsibilities. Act as a quality assurance specialist, helping assure accuracy of patient care date. Prepare and monitor evaluation data, analyzes data, identify discrepancies, make corrections, and recommend a course of action to assure accuracy and timelines of future data input. Compile final reports of evaluation efforts. Note discrepancies and the planned initiatives for effecting remedial actions. Establish administrative controls aimed at ensuring remedial actions are completed as proposed. Provide input into the conduct of, and is responsible for the maintenance of files and records pertaining to patient satisfaction surveys or other evaluative information. Document all findings derived from the information after thorough analysis of data in order to identify trends and patterns and compiles data for inclusion in comprehensive analysis. Maintain liaison with veteran's service organizations, community groups, and others whose interest is in helping and protecting veterans, their families, and their representatives. Assist patients, their families and representatives, and facility staff members in recognizing and removing institutional barriers to the provision of optimum health care to veterans. Identify existing and potential problem areas, suggest solutions or alternatives to existing procedures which contribute to these problems. Act to resolve problems, expedite services, or implement necessary corrective measures within established facility policies and where appropriate, through committee participation. Make inquiry into patient complaints, initiate action, or changes necessary to correct problems situations, and reports on corrective measures taken. Directly contact any member of the hospital staff concerning any matter or problem relating to patient care which has not been resolved by other services and to seek a resolution. Work Schedule: Monday - Friday 8:00am - 4:30pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Patient Representative/PD04364A Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Approved 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, 04/30/2024. 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. Selective placement factor: is applied in the same manner as minimum qualification requirements. Relevant selective placement factor experience must be well documented in your resume. Failure to meet a selective placement factor will result in you not receiving further consideration. In addition to the minimum qualifications described below, you must meet the following selective placement factor: Must have a valid state driver's license. Preferred experience: Military service with a deployment to a designated combat zone; thorough knowledge of military service, having served in either traditional military service, Guard/Reserve components or DoD; basic knowledge of Veterans Affairs Eligibility; basic knowledge of Veterans Health Administration, Veterans Benefits Administration and Veterans Care Agreement benefits. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education s 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. Specialized experience is experience in identifying the elements of clinical or administrative practices that contribute to an atmosphere of patient dissatisfaction which leads to complaints; recommending to management changes that will reduce or eliminate justified complaints; acting on behalf of the patient and family on a variety of questions and issues involving problem resolution and patient advocacy; assisting patients in understanding their rights in addition to their responsibilities. NOTE: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title, duties, month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. OR, Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have completed 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. Such education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work. Education must have been obtained in an accredited college or university. NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with your application materials. Education cannot be credited without documentation. OR, Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have a combination of specialized experience and graduate level education (beyond the first 2 years) to meet total requirements. The education must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do 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: CommunicationCustomer ServiceManages and Organizes Information 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 high level of physical energy is required, as the incumbent will be expected to meet with many people in many different locations in the course of a workday. This position may travel to perform aspects of the job, and a valid state driver's license will be needed to drive a vehicle. 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

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

Contacts

• Address Tucson VA Medical Center 3601 South Sixth Avenue Tucson, AZ 85723 US
• Name: Cherie Mennel
• Phone: 520-792-1450 X6213
• Email: [email protected]