7 August 2009

[Federal Register: August 7, 2009 (Volume 74, Number 151)]
[Notices]               
[Page 39734-39736]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr07au09-126]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

 
Annual Pay Ranges for Physicians and Dentists of the Veterans 
Health Administration (VHA)

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: As required by the ``Department of Veterans Affairs Health

[[Page 39735]]

Care Personnel Enhancement Act of 2004'' (Pub. L. 108-445, dated 
December 3, 2004) the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is hereby 
giving notice of annual pay ranges for Veterans Health Administration 
(VHA) physicians and dentists as prescribed by the Secretary for 
Department-wide applicability. These annual pay ranges are intended to 
enhance the flexibility of the Department to recruit, develop, and 
retain the most highly qualified providers to serve our Nation's 
veterans and maintain a standard of excellence in the VA healthcare 
system.

DATES: Effective Dates: Annual pay ranges are effective on October 11, 
2009.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lauren Kuiper-Rocha, Director, 
Compensation and Classification Service (055), Office of Human 
Resources Management, Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20420, (202) 461-7804. This is not a toll-
free number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under 38 U.S.C. 7431(e)(1)(A), not less 
often than once every two years, the Secretary must prescribe for 
Department-wide applicability the minimum and maximum amounts of annual 
pay that may be paid to VHA physicians and dentists. Further, 38 U.S.C. 
7431(e)(1)(B) allows the Secretary to prescribe separate minimum and 
maximum amounts of pay for a specialty or assignment. In construction 
of the annual pay ranges, 38 U.S.C. 7431(c)(4)(A) requires the 
consultation of two or more national surveys of pay for physicians and 
dentists, as applicable, whether prepared by private, public, or quasi-
public entities in order to make a general assessment of the range of 
pays payable to physicians and dentists. Lastly, 38 U.S.C. 
7431(e)(1)(C) states amounts prescribed under paragraph 7431(e) shall 
be published in the Federal Register, and shall not take effect until 
at least 60 days after date of publication.

Background

    The ``Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care Personnel 
Enhancement Act of 2004'' (Pub. L. 108-445) was signed by the President 
on December 3, 2004. The major provisions of the law established a new 
pay system for Veterans Health Administration (VHA) physicians and 
dentists consisting of base pay, market pay, and performance pay. While 
the base pay component is set by statute, market pay is intended to 
reflect the recruitment and retention needs for the specialty or 
assignment of a particular physician or dentist at a facility. Further, 
performance pay is intended to recognize the achievement of specific 
goals and performance objectives prescribed annually. These three 
components create a system of pay that is driven by both market 
indicators and employee performance, while recognizing employee tenure 
in VHA.

Discussion

    VA identified and utilized salary survey data sources which most 
closely represent VA comparability in the areas of practice setting, 
employment environment, and hospital/healthcare system. The Association 
of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), Hospital and Healthcare 
Compensation Service (HHCS), Sullivan, Cotter, and Associates (S&C), 
Physician Executive Management Center (PEMC), and the Survey of Dental 
Practice published by the American Dental Association (ADA) were 
collectively utilized as benchmarks from which to prescribe annual pay 
ranges for physicians and dentists across the scope of assignments/
specialties within the Department. While aggregating the data, a 
preponderance of weight was given to those surveys which most directly 
resembled the environment of the Department.
    In constructing annual pay ranges to accommodate the more than 
thirty specialties that currently exist in the VA system, VA continued 
the practice of grouping specialties into consolidated pay ranges. This 
allows VA to use multiple sources that yield a high number of physician 
salary data which helps to minimize disparities and aberrations that 
may surface from data involving smaller numbers of physicians and 
dentists for comparison and from sample change from year to year. Thus, 
by aggregating multiple survey sources into like groupings, greater 
confidence exists that the average compensation reported is truly 
representative. In addition, aggregation of data provides for a large 
enough sample size and provides pay ranges with maximum flexibility for 
pay setting for the more than 16,000 VHA physicians and dentists.
    In developing the annual pay ranges, a few distinctive principles 
were factored into the compensation analysis of the data. The first 
principle is to ensure that both the minimum and maximum salary is at a 
level that accommodates special employment situations, from fellowships 
and medical research career development awards to Nobel Laureates, 
high-cost areas, and internationally renowned clinicians. The second 
principle, to attempt to establish a rate range of  25 
percent of the mean, is imperative to provide ranges large enough to 
accommodate career progression, geographic differences, sub-
specialization, and special factors. This principle is also the 
standard recommended by World@Work for professional compensation 
ranges.
    All clinical specialties for VHA physicians and dentists were 
reviewed against relevant private sector data. The specialties are 
grouped into five clinical pay ranges that reflect comparable 
complexity in salary, recruitment, and retention considerations. Two 
additional pay ranges apply to VHA Chiefs of Staff and physicians and 
dentists in executive level administrative assignments at the facility, 
network, or headquarters level.

                     Pay Table 1--Clinical Specialty
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Tier level                      Minimum      Maximum
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tier 1........................................      $96,539     $195,000
Tier 2........................................      110,000      210,000
Tier 3........................................      120,000      235,000
Tier 4........................................      130,000      245,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------


                Pay Table 1--Covered Clinical Specialties
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Allergy and Immunology
Endocrinology
Family Practice
Geriatrics
Hospitalist
Infectious Diseases
Internal Medicine
Neurology
Preventive Medicine
Primary Care
Psychiatry
Rheumatology
General Practice--Dentistry
Endodontics
Periodontics
Prosthodontics
Assignments that do not require a specific specialty
------------------------------------------------------------------------


                     Pay Table 2--Clinical Specialty
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Tier level                      Minimum      Maximum
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tier 1........................................      $96,539     $220,000
Tier 2........................................      115,000      230,000
Tier 3........................................      130,000      240,000
Tier 4........................................      140,000      250,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------


                Pay Table 2--Covered Clinical Specialties
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Critical Care (board certified)
Emergency Medicine
Gynecology
Hematology--Oncology
Nephrology
Pathology
Physiatry
Pulmonary
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[[Page 39736]]


                     Pay Table 3--Clinical Specialty
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Tier level                      Minimum      Maximum
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tier 1........................................      $96,539     $265,000
Tier 2........................................      120,000      275,000
Tier 3........................................      135,000      285,000
Tier 4........................................      145,000      295,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------


                Pay Table 3--Covered Clinical Specialties
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Cardiology (Non-invasive)
Dermatology
Gastroenterology
Nuclear Medicine
Ophthalmology
Oral Surgery
Otolaryngology
------------------------------------------------------------------------


                     Pay Table 4--Clinical Specialty
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Tier level                      Minimum      Maximum
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tier 1........................................      $96,539     $295,000
Tier 2........................................      125,000      305,000
Tier 3........................................      140,000      325,000
Tier 4........................................      150,000      335,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------


                Pay Table 4--Covered Clinical Specialties
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Anesthesiology
General Surgery
Plastic Surgery
Radiology
Therapeutic Radiology
Urology
Vascular Surgery
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                       Pay Table 5--Chief of Staff
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Tier level                      Minimum      Maximum
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tier 1........................................     $150,000     $275,000
Tier 2........................................      145,000      255,000
Tier 3........................................      140,000      235,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------


                   Pay Table 6--Executive Assignments
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Tier Level                      Minimum      Maximum
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tier 1........................................     $145,000     $265,000
Tier 2........................................      145,000      245,000
Tier 3........................................      130,000      235,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------


               Pay Table 6--Covered Executive Assignments
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Principal Deputy, Deputy and Assistant Under Secretary for Health
Chief Officer and Chief Consultant
Network Director, Medical Center Director and Chief Medical Officer
National Program Manager and other VA Central Office Physician/Dentist
------------------------------------------------------------------------


                     Pay Table 7--Clinical Specialty
------------------------------------------------------------------------
                  Tier Level                      Minimum      Maximum
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tier 1........................................      $96,539     $375,000
Tier 2........................................      140,000      385,000
------------------------------------------------------------------------


                Pay Table 7--Covered Clinical Specialties
------------------------------------------------------------------------

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Cardio-Thoracic Surgery
Interventional Cardiology
Interventional Radiology
Neurosurgery
Orthopedic Surgery
------------------------------------------------------------------------


    Dated: July 31, 2009.
John R. Gingrich,
Chief of Staff, Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. E9-18998 Filed 8-6-09; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 8320-01-P