Patient Relations Assistant (OA)

Summary

The position is located in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Veterans Health Administration (VHA), Mid-Atlantic Health Care Network (VISN 6), Central Virginia VA Health Care System, Richmond VA Medical Center (VAMC), Assistant Director, Fredericksburg, VA Clinic, Engagement & Experience Office, Patient Experience Center. This Position reports to the Supervisory Customer Service Specialist (Veteran Experience Manager).

Duties

The Patient Relations Assistant (OA) provides the highest level of customer service and service recovery. incumbent works with veterans, their families, Medical Center services, Congressional offices and service organizations and is the initial VA contact for many veterans and their families. The incumbent, on a regular and recurring basis, performs the following patient relations function: Receives customer requests for information, and listens to routine to potentially serious patient complaints concerns and issues. Documents and reports the results of patients interviews and safeguards the patient's ethical, statutory and constitutional rights. Provides reports to the Medical Center's administration on corrective measures and service recovery actions taken on behalf of the Patient Advocate and/or the Customer Service Manager. Receives and listens to complaints and grievance from patients and their family. The Patient Relations Assistant explains patients' rights and their responsibilities. Answers a wide variety of questions related to services provided and clarifies the Medical Center policies and procedures. Handles institutional administrative procedures on behalf of patients and their families. acts as a liaison between Veterans and staff when needs have not been met and resolves problems on various issues, referring serious problems, opinions, and needs to the appropriate staff, Patient Advocate or Customer Service Manager. Responses must be researched and prepared for the signature of the Medical Center Director within the designated time frame. Develops and conducts the Voice of the Customer Surveys and facilitated listening. Collects and analyzes survey data for identification of system problems which impact a positive patient experience. Considers the quantitative results of various patient processing systems, the influence of the medical data being compared, the degree of flexibility in the systems, and the anticipated processing problems which will be created or solved by revisions in the systems. Acts as a central source of information within and outside the patient experience office. Is cognizant of the larger VHA system and makes referrals to VBA and other outside agencies. Supports customer service needs of the clinics through regular communication, providing training, appointment to improvement teams and special projects. Provides administrative support for the Patient Experience Center by entering work orders for maintenance of equipment and ordering supplies. Works effectively with interdisciplinary groups and collaboratively makes program enhancements based on research/studies. Maintains the Patient Advocate Tracking System (PATS) and ensures accuracy and timeliness of contacts and inquiries and logged into the system. Incumbent procedure cumulative reports of PATS data and analyzes patter trends to identify and recommend improvements for the patient experience. Determines correct office procedures and establishes guidelines for operations. Develops procedures to foster efficiency, productivity and excellent customer experience. Records all incoming congressional requests, researches electronics medical records for each request, gathers additional information from administrative and clinical staff, composes letters and responses for review and signature by Patient Advocates, Customer Service Manager and/or Medical Center Director. Meticulously monitors timelines for congressional(s) and maintains a collaborative communication with the congressional staff offices. Coordinates the activities of the Patient Advocacy/Patient Experience programs by maintaining records of meetings, scheduling activities and screening of incoming items. Work Schedule: Monday-Friday 8:00am-4:30pm Telework: Not Authorized Virtual: This is not a virtual position. Position Description/PD#: Patient Relations Assistant (OA)/PD000000 Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized Critical Skills Incentive (CSI): Not Authorized Permanent Change of Station (PCS): Not Authorized PCS Appraised Value Offer (AVO): Not Authorized

Qualifications

To qualify for this position, applicants must meet all requirements by the closing date of this announcement, 10/26/2026. 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-06 you must have served 52 weeks at the GS-05. 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 as described below: Specialized Experience: You must have one year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade GS-05 in the normal line of progression for the occupation in the organization. Examples of specialized experience would typically include, but are not limited to: Experience with customer relations and handling concerns/complaints in a timely, competent, and caring manner; research problems and/or review issues and requests related to medical care; and providing administrative assistance such maintaining tracking systems and processing correspondence. 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/.

Education

There is no educational substitution at this grade level. Note: Only education or degrees recognized by the U.S. Department of Education from accredited colleges, universities, schools, or institutions may be used to qualify for Federal employment. You can verify your education here: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/. If you are using foreign education to meet qualification requirements, you must send a Certificate of Foreign Equivalency with your transcript in order to receive credit for that education. For further information, visit: https://sites.ed.gov/international/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications/.