Lead Patient Representative

Full Job Description

This position is located at the Iowa City VA Healthcare System serving as the Facility Lead Patient Advocate.

This position is a key point of contact for patients and staff and to work in collaboration with facility Patient Advocates on complex issues or complaints where use of tact, diplomacy, sound judgment, compassion, flexibility, and a good sense of humor are extremely important.

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 01/28/2026.

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-12 position you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-11. 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.

To qualify for this position at the GS-12 level, you must have at least one (1) full year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level (GS-11) in the Federal Service that has given you the particular knowledge, skills and abilities required to successfully perform the duties of this position as a Lead Patient Representative/Advocate.

Qualifying specialized experience includes working directly with health care teams and management as a patient advocate to facilitate resolution to problems; ensuring patient advocacy goals, policy and requirements are met; collecting, analyzing, and evaluating relevant data; identifying existing or potential problem areas and suggesting solutions or alternatives; serving as a liaison between a medical facility, patients, and staff to ensure Patient Rights and Responsibilities, advocacy, and services are available.

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.

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/.

Physical Requirements and Work Environment: The work includes walking, standing, bending, carrying of light items, and occasionally assisting with a wheelchair.

In some instances, relationships with patients and caregivers can become intense and the incumbent is constantly exposed to high levels of stress and anxiety.

This position demands emotional stability, as the incumbent is deeply involved with many challenging, seriously ill, and/or dying patients and their caregivers.

The work environment involves the normal risks typical of an office with the additional risk of dealing with patients who may be hostile and/or are not in touch with reality.

Visits are routine to the units/clinics, as well as administrative offices in the Facility.

This position may encounter patients with medically emergent needs/situations and illnesses/conditions that are considered infectious.

You will be asked to participate in a pre-employment examination or evaluation as part of the pre-employment process for this position.

Questions about demands or environmental factors may be addressed at the time of evaluation or examination. Major Duties:

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: Monday - Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Position Description/PD#: Lead Patient Representative/PD99734S Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized The VA Midwest Health Care Network advocates for a Whole Health System of care in each of the Medical Centers.

This is an approach to healthcare that empowers and equips people to take charge of their health and well-being and live their lives to the fullest.

As an employee operating in a Whole Health System of care, you will operate in a model with three core elements, seeking to create a personalized health plan for each Veteran.

This is done in the context of healing relationships and healing environments and a connection back to the Veteran's community.

This aligns with the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Mission Statement to Honor America's Veterans by providing exceptional health care that improves their health and well-being.