Patient Advocate

Duties
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• Assists with investigations of patient-related situations and, provides guidance to concerned Directors and Department Heads in solving problems.
• Respond to patient needs through the identification and resolution of problem areas prior to the patient leaving the facility.
• Document all significant patient encounters to include the scope of the problem and the patient's perception.
• Maintains records of all significant patient complaints or problems, customer comments and feedback, recommendations for changes in policy, procedures and all follow-up actions.
• Advises the Director for quality management of incidents, situations, or problems which have potential for litigation involving the U.S. Government.
• Participate in or conduct customer relations training for all personnel involved in the delivery of health care.
• Assesses patient satisfaction through analysis of patient complaints and review of patient questionnaires.
• Identifies improvement opportunities from statistical data and measures.
• Performs basic data extraction, translation/transformation, and loading activities.
• Primary coordinator and facilitator of the Military Treatment Facility Patient and Family Council.

Requirements
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Conditions of employment

• Appointment may be subject to a suitability or fitness determination, as determined by a completed background investigation.
• Male applicants born after December 31, 1959 must complete a Pre-Employment Certification Statement for Selective Service Registration.
• You will be required to provide proof of U.S. Citizenship.
• One year trial/probationary period may be required.
• Applicants must comply with the Exceptional Family Member Program requirements as outlined in the DoD Instruction 1315.19.
• Must be able to satisfy the requirements of the 26JUL12 DODI 1400.25 V1230, DoD Civilian Personnel Management System: Employment in Foreign Areas and Employee Return Rights. Visit https://www.esd.whs.mil/DD/DoD-Issuances/140025/.
• This position requires you to be able to obtain and maintain a determination of eligibility for a Secret security clearance of access for the duration of employment which includes a background investigation and credit check.

Qualifications

Who May Apply: Only applicants who meet one of the employment authority categories below are eligible to apply for this job. You will be asked to identify which category or categories you meet, and to provide documents which prove you meet the category or categories you selected.

• 30 Percent or More Disabled Veterans
• Current Civilian Employees of the Defense Health Agency (DHA)
• Current Permanent Department of Defense (DoD) Civilian Employee
• Domestic Defense Industrial Base/Major Range and Test Facilities Base Civilian Personnel Workforce
• Excepted Service Overseas Family Member Appointment
• Family Member Preference (FMP) for Overseas Employment
• Interagency Career Transition Assistance Plan
• Land Management Workforce Flexibility Act
• Military Spouse Preference (MSP) for Overseas Employment
• Non-Department of Defense (DoD) Transfer
• People with Disabilities, Schedule A
• Priority Placement Program, DoD Military Reserve (MR) and National Guard (NG) Technician Eligible
• Priority Placement Program, DoD MR and NG Preference Eligible Tech Receiving Disability Retirement
• Priority Placement Program, DoD Retained Grade Preference Eligible
• Reinstatement
• Veterans Employment Opportunity Act (VEOA) of 1998

In order to qualify, you must meet the education and/or experience requirements described below. 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; religious; spiritual; community; student; social). You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience. Your resume must clearly describe your relevant experience; if qualifying based on education, your transcripts will be required as part of your application. Additional information about transcripts is in this document .

Specialized Experience:
One year of specialized experience which includes assisting patients with grievances for referral to the appropriate party; utilizing automated health records system to maintain patient information, prepare correspondence for the department; assist identifying weaknesses of healthcare delivery process within a medical treatment facility (MTF); preparing presentations such as customer satisfaction briefs and trainings for the department. This definition of specialized experience is typical of work performed at the second lower grade/level position in the federal service (GS-07).

OR

Education: Master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher-level graduate education leading to such a degree in a field which demonstrates the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to do the work of the position, such as: healthcare administration, healthcare management, or case management.

OR

Combination of Education and Experience: A combination of education and experience may be used to qualify for this position as long as the computed percentage of the requirements is at least 100%. To compute the percentage of the requirements, divide your total months of experience by 12. Then divide the total number of completed graduate semester hours (or equivalent) beyond the first year (total graduate semester hours minus 18) by 18. Add the two percentages

You will be evaluated on the basis of your level of competency in the following areas:

• Attention to Detail
• Customer Service
• Decision Making
• Flexibility
• Integrity/Honesty
• Interpersonal Skills
• Learning
• Reading Comprehension
• Reasoning
• Self-Management
• Stress Tolerance
• Teamwork

Time in Grade Requirement: Applicants who have held a General Schedule (GS) position within the last 52 weeks must have 52 weeks of Federal service at the next lower grade or equivalent (GS-07).

Education

FOREIGN EDUCATION: If you are using education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet the qualification requirements, you must show the education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications .

Additional information

• Direct Deposit of Pay is required.
• U.S. citizens overseas under ordinarily resident status are not eligible for appointment under the Status of Forces Agreement.
• Locality pay does not apply in the overseas area.
• If an employee brings a child to an overseas location and that child is entitled to attend a DoD school on a space-required basis in accordance with DoDEA Regulation 1342.13, the DoDEA and the Military Department responsible for providing related services will ensure that the child, if eligible for special education, receives a free appropriate public education, including related services pursuant to DoDI 1342.12 and DoDM 1342.12.
• If an employee brings an infant or toddler (up to 3 years of age) to an overseas location, and that infant or toddler, but for the child's age, is entitled to attend the DoDEA on a space-required basis in accordance with DoDEA Regulation 1342.13, then the Military Department responsible for EIS will provide the infant or toddler with the required EIS in accordance with the eligibility criteria consistent with DoDI 1342.12 and DoDM 1342.12.
• Employees (and family members) who require medical or dental care in the overseas location will be responsible for obtaining and paying for such care. Access for civilian employees and their families to military medical and dental treatment facilities is on a space-available and reimbursable basis only.
• Pay retention may be offered to selected applicants for positions at overseas locations. Pay retention will not be offered as an incentive for employees moving between overseas positions.
• Selectees may receive certain foreign area benefits such as: Living Quarters Allowance (LQA) or government quarters, home leave, etc. Selectees will have their eligibility for foreign area benefits determined at the time of hire in accordance with Department of State Standardized Regulation (DSSR) and DoDI 1400.25 volume 1250.
• For positions in a foreign country, that country's laws or international agreements may have a direct impact on the ability of an employee's same sex domestic partner or spouse to accompany the employee and receive certain benefits. If you believe you may be affected by these laws and agreements, you should familiarize yourself with relevant information and direct questions concerning a specific country (Foreign Duty Location) to the appropriate Human Resources point of contact prior to the acceptance of employment and your entrance on duty.
• The initial length of this overseas tour is 24 months when accompanied by a dependent, and 12 months when unaccompanied by a dependent with the possibility of a future extension of an additional 36 months at management discretion..
• Recruitment or relocation incentives MAY be authorized for highly qualified candidates.
• Multiple positions may be filled from this announcement.
• When you perform a Civilian Permanent Change of Station (PCS) with the government, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) considers the majority of your entitlements to be taxable. Visit https://www.dfas.mil/civilianemployees/civrelo/Civilian-Moving-Expenses-Tax-Deduction/ for more information.
• Payment of Permanent Change of Station (PCS) costs is authorized, subject to the provisions of the Joint Travel Regulations.