Patient Relations Assistant

The Patient Advocate Office, is under the supervision of the Supervisory Patient Representative. They will assist and coordinate all work in support of the patient advocate program; assisting veterans, families and representatives, as well as staff in recognizing and recommending solutions regarding patient concerns. Will identify existing and potential opportunities for improvement and suggest possible solution and/or alternative.

Qualifications:

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 05/27/2026.

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-07 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-06 . 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. Examples of appropriate SF-50's include: Within grade increases at the highest grade held; or Promotions with an effective date more than one year old; or SF-50's at the highest grade held with an effective date more than one year old. 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-06 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: 1) Compiling ADP security requirements, handling written correspondence and telephone inquiries and contacting various ancillary services regarding final disposition of patient treatment plans. 2) Tracking and preparing monthly reports on all patient centered and customer service activities and enters daily into a Patient Advocate Tracking System (PATS). 3) Answering queries and concerns that do not require clinical expertise for Veterans and stakeholders. 4) Documenting patient concerns to ensure proper tracking of complaints and concerns. 5) Experience in customer service skills when dealing with veterans, staff, coworkers, applicants, supervisors, management, union representatives, government representatives, and the general public.

Preferred Experience:

Experience serving as an initial point of contact for Veterans who are frustrated or concerned, utilizing de-escalation techniques and providing information regarding provisions for medical care, eligibility, etc., Experience both working independently while also serving as a key member of team sharing information with other team members about patient concerns/grievances/histories/medical care, in order to provide the best Veteran's Patient Experience 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/ .