Patient Representative

Description:

Patient Representative serves as a Patient Advocate and reports directly to a member of the Facility Executive Leadership Team (Quad/Pentad) under the Associate Director's office. Ensures patient concerns are heard and addressed to improve the overall experience and quality of care for patients. Dedicated to specifically working with patients and their caregivers to resolve complaints that arise at the point of service. You will work exclusively in the Patient Advocate Tracking System (PATS).

Requirements:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/13/2025.

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-09.

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.

Minimum Qualification Requirement:

• 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. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Assists patients in understanding their rights, in addition to, their responsibilities. Assist Service-Level Advocates (SLA) and front-line staff in resolving issues that occur at the point of service. Managing the facility VCCR process, including complaint resolution, data capture and analysis of issues/complaints to make system improvements. Identifies existing or potential problem areas and suggests solutions or alternatives to existing procedures. Performing higher-level complexity functions including patient engagement and education, facility rounding, complex complaint resolutions, trend analysis and process improvement. Planning, organization, development, direction and evaluation of VA administration. Presents patient issues and data at various facility meetings and committees. Serves as liaison with congressional offices, responding directly to their staff assistants on matters involving patient concerns or dissatisfaction. Safeguards privacy data/sensitive policy-making data against unauthorized disclosure. OR,
• 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. OR,
• Combination: Applicants may also combine education and experience to qualify at this level. You must have an combination of specialized experience and education beyond of a master's degree.
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You will be rated on the following Competencies for this position:

• Analysis and Problem Solving
• Communication
• Customer Service
• Technical Documentation

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 you are constantly exposed to high levels of stress and anxiety. This position demands emotional stability, as you are 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/ .