Patient Representative

Patient Advocate

Patient Advocacy within VA exists to ensure patient concerns are heard and addressed to improve the overall experience and quality of care for patients. Effective, high-functioning Patient Advocacy is integral to fulfilling the goal of providing Veterans with world-class health care. Major duties and responsibilities include:

• Team Lead, Data Management and Process Improvement
• Leads the team and provides the day-to-day work direction, review, and distribution, balance, and adjustment of workload
• Monitors and reports on the progress of the team's work and provides updates to the supervisor
• Coaches and develops the team using appropriate tools and techniques to address a variety of issues and situations
• Oversees general administrative issues regarding subordinates' leave, scheduling, appointments, etc.
• Provides the team formal and informal training information related to patient advocacy service, customer service, techniques, and resources needed to educate themselves
• Provides higher-level data management and analysis function for the Patient Advocate team
• Develops and maintains organizational dashboards and data sets
• Regularly produces cumulative reports which includes a categorization of patient inquiries to track and trend the patterns to identify opportunities for improvement

Complaint Resolution

• Leads and oversees the facility Veteran Centered Complaint Resolution (VCCR) process, including complaint resolution, data capture, and analysis of issues/complaints to make system improvements
• Works in collaboration with Patient Advocates, Service-Level Advocates (SLAs), and front-line staff to resolve complex issues that occur at the point of service or due to further investigation of the problem(s)
• Addresses complaints and proactively explores all avenues to identify the nature and scope of the problems and initiates appropriate action to expedite resolutions

Patient Advocate Representation and Relationship Management

• Serves as the liaison between the facility, patients, staff, and the community, ensuring Patients understand their rights, in addition to, their responsibilities
• Determines causes of patient dissatisfaction, misinformation, or complaints and documents patient encounters and contacts appropriate services to establish resolutions
• Leads and ensures that rounds throughout the facility are conducted on a routine basis to solicit patient feedback and build strong relationships with SLAs and service leadership.
• Leads staff in responding to patients' inquiries through multiple VA approved forms of contact (e.g., Inquiry Routing and Information System (IRIS), My HealtheVet, Secure Messaging, E-mail, Phone, Walk-in, Town Halls, etc.), where patients pose questions, complaints, compliments, and suggestions.

Work Schedule: Full Time, Monday - Friday, 0730 am - 4:00 pm

Telework: Ad-Hoc

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Patient Representative / PD99734S