Health System Specialist

US-Department-of-Veterans-Affair; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 95,000 - 135,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Federal employee benefits

Job summary

The Office of Patient Advocacy within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs seeks a GS-13 Patient Advocate to lead system enhancements and advocate for Veterans and families.

The role focuses on managing the Patient Advocate Tracking System (PATS), coordinating with IT and program offices, and delivering actionable insights from feedback. The incumbent will analyze performance metrics, ensure data security, and drive changes across enterprise applications while aligning with federal

Qualifications

• Graduate/undergraduate degree in hospital/public health or related field with health care admin coursework.
• Specialized experience at GS-12 level in health care admin/clinical management or supervisory roles.
• Experience with system development, user provisioning, and data security in health IT.
• Knowledge of regulations, standards, and government systems (budget, personnel, procurement).

Responsibilities

• Lead PATS release cycles, upgrades, and maintenance to ensure system functionality.
• Develop strategies for user provisioning and access control.
• Monitor PATS metrics, engagement, and utilization to inform decisions.
• Evaluate feedback and gaps to recommend enhancements and workflows.
• Collaborate with IT, vendors, and program offices to integrate PATS with enterprise apps.
• Lead or contribute to projects on PATS enhancements, integration, and change management.
• Design standardized reporting frameworks and dashboards for real‑time monitoring.

Skills

PATS system

Data security

Dashboards

Reporting tools

Cross‑agency collaboration

Education

Undergraduate or Graduate degree in hospital/public health administration or related field with health care administration coursework

Tools

PATS

Enterprise reporting platforms

Job description

The Office of Patient Advocacy is a national program office that ensures Veterans and their families have access to advocacy services across the Veterans Health Administration (VHA). The office reports directly to the Under Secretary for Health (USH). This office's focus is on improving the experience of Veterans, coordinating the national Patient Advocacy Program and supporting similar Veteran experience activities across VHA.

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

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-13 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-12. 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.

Individual Occupational Requirements (IOR):

The 0671 Occupational series has an IOR that must be met:

Undergraduate and Graduate Education:

Major study - hospital administration, public health administration, or related fields such as business or public administration with course work in health care administration.

OR,

Progressively responsible analytical or administrative, or clinical management or supervisory experience in the health care field. This work may have been performed in an operating health care facility or a higher organizational echelon with advisory or directional authority over such facilities. Work must have involved a close working relationship with facility managers and analysis and/or coordination of administrative, clinical, or other service activities, and provided knowledge of the following:

• Missions, organizations, programs, and requirements of health care delivery systems;
• Regulations and standards of various regulatory and credentialing groups;
• Government-wide, agency, and facility systems and requirements in various administrative areas such as budget, personnel, and procurement.

Special Provision for Inservice Placement:

Successful completion of an agency-sponsored on-the-job training program may be substituted for qualifying experience, provided it included a formal individualized training plan. Such a training program must have been conducted in an operating health care system and included:

In addition to the IOR, candidates must also meet the following specialized experience for the grade level.

GS-13 grade level:

One year of specialized experience (equivalent to the GS-12 grade level in the federal service); experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA's) and other characteristics to perform successfully the duties of the position, and that is typically in or related to the work of the position to be filled, in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes:

• Lead Patient Advocate Tracking System (PATS) release cycles, upgrades, and maintenance activities to ensure continuous system functionality and alignment with organizational requirements.
• Develop strategies and protocols for effective user provisioning, access management, and data security within PATS.
• Monitor PATS performance metrics, user engagement, and system utilization to identify inefficiencies and inform organizational decision-making.
• Evaluate user feedback, technical issues, and process gaps within PATS to recommend enhancements and optimize workflow.
• Collaborate with IT specialists, vendors, and program offices to integrate and monitor PATS data with other enterprise applications and reporting platforms.
• Lead or contribute to special projects related to PATS enhancements, integration, and change management initiatives supporting organizational objectives
• Design and implement standardized reporting frameworks and dashboards within PATS to facilitate real-time monitoring and executive review of patient feedback and case resolution metrics.

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.