Patient Representative

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; Salt Lake City (UT); On-site; USD 60,000 - 92,000; Full time

Job summary

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs seeks a Patient Representative to coordinate and implement the Patient Advocate programs, working with patients and staff to improve the patient experience.

You will help resolve complaints, educate staff on patient-centered practices, maintain records, and analyze data to identify trends, reporting to leadership. This full-time role follows a Monday–Friday schedule at the Salt Lake City location under the Patient Centered Care mission.

Qualifications

• One year of specialized experience providing customer service to patients and resolving problems.
• Education can substitute for required experience per GS-11/GS-9 guidelines.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate and implement the Patient Advocate programs.
• Assist in enhancing the patient care experience in collaboration with staff.
• Serve as liaison between patients, staff, and the community regarding patient experience and rights.
• Educate staff on patient-centered care practices and document patient status and changes.

Skills

Customer service

Policy explanation

Record keeping

Problem solving

Education

Master's degree or higher

Job description

Summary
Patient Advocacy within VA exists to ensure patient concerns are heard and addressed to improve the overall experience and quality of care for patients. The VA utilizes Patient Advocates and staff members across diverse services/departments who are dedicated to specifically working with patients and their caregivers to resolve complaints that arise at the point of service.

Summary
Patient Advocacy within VA exists to ensure patient concerns are heard and addressed to improve the overall experience and quality of care for patients. The VA utilizes Patient Advocates and staff members across diverse services/departments who are dedicated to specifically working with patients and their caregivers to resolve complaints that arise at the point of service.
Qualifications
To qualify for this position - applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement - 10/01/2026. 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-11 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-09. For a GS-9 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-7. 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. You may qualify based on your experience and/or education as described below: GS-9: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-07 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Specialized experience includes providing customer service to patients; assisting patients and staff with resolving problems or complaints; assisting with identifying problem areas and suggesting solutions or alternatives; explaining policies and procedures; keeping accurate records and preparing reports and/or written correspondence. NOTE: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title - duties - month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week. OR Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have Master's or equivalent graduate degree or 2 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B or J.D. - if related NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with application. Education cannot be credited without documentation 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 graduate level education (more than the first year or 18 semester hours) and specialized experience to meet total experience requirements. NOTE: If using education combined with specialized experience to qualify - a copy of your transcript is required. GS-11: 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 - skills and abilities to successfully perform the duties as a Patient Representative/Advocate. Qualifying specialized experience includes providing customer service to patients and staff with resolving problems or complaints; identifying problem areas and suggesting solutions or alternatives; explaining policies and procedures; keeping accurate records and preparing reports and/or written correspondence; collaborating with facility staff to improve the patient experience. NOTE: Experience must be fully documented on your resume and must include job title - duties - month and year start/end dates AND hours worked per week.. OR - Education: Applicants may substitute education for the required experience. To qualify based on education for this grade level you must have Ph.D or equivalent graduate degree or 3 full years of progressively higher level graduate education leading to such a degree or LL.B or J.D. - if related NOTE: Transcripts must be submitted with application. Education cannot be credited without documentation 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 graduate level education (more than the first year or 18 semester hours) and specialized experience to meet total experience requirements. NOTE: If using education combined with specialized experience to qualify - a copy of your transcript is required. 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/.

Duties

• The Patient Representative is responsible for the coordination and implementation of the Patient Advocate programs
• The Patient Representative assists the Chief - Patient Centered Care and Cultural Transformation to enhance the Veterans' health care experience
• This position is linked to top management when developing and implementing solutions to concerns addressed by the Customer Service Department and may cross broad organizational lines
• Duties may include - but are not limited to: Serves as the liaison between the medical center - patients and staff - and the community regarding the patient experience - patient rights and advocacy
• Assure the timely resolution of patient and family complaints - identify and participate in the identification and correction of system issues - educate staff regarding patient centered strategies and collect and analyze data in order to identify trends and patterns that create difficulty for patients or families using the Patient Advocate Tracking System (PATS)
• Maintain a clear communication between the Veteran population - staff and facility leadership
• Responsible for supporting proactive training initiatives including Patient Centered Care Training - New Employee Orientation and New Patient Orientation
• Reports and documents patient status and changes - and documents using monthly summaries or quarterly summaries pertaining to both resolved and unresolved patient and/or family concerns
• Communicates pertinent information to appropriate parties concisely - accurately and in a timely fashion
• Reports significant and relevant information and issues to leadership
• Reviews data - performs comprehensive analysis and recommends remedial actions
• Assists patients in understanding their rights in addition to their responsibilities
• interprets the Medical Center's mission - policies - and procedures - assesses available resources/services/options available to the patient and then represents the patient's problems - opinions and need to appropriate staff and management
• Explains entitlements to patients and their families
• Overall responsibility for the resolution of patient problems
• Receives and listens to complaints and grievances from patients or from individuals on behalf of patients that are unresolved at the service level
• Promotion Potential: The selectee may be promoted to the full performance level without further competition when all regulatory - qualification - and performance requirements are met
• Selection at a lower grade level does not guarantee promotion to the full performance level
• Work Schedule: Monday - Friday - 7:30am - 4:00pm Telework: This position may not be authorized for telework
• Virtual: This is not a virtual position
• Position Description/PD#: Patient Representative/PD99864S and PD99473S