[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 161 (Tuesday, August 20, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43261-43262]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-17901]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS


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

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is hereby giving 
notice of annual pay range, which is the sum of the base pay rate and 
market pay for Veterans Health Administration (VHA) physicians, 
dentists, and podiatrists 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 health care 
system.

DATES: Annual pay ranges are applicable October 27, 2019.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Farine Cohen, Program Analyst, Policy 
and Programs, VHA Workforce Management & Consulting Office (10A2A), 
Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue NW, Washington, DC 
20420, (202) 461-7179. This is not a toll-free number.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Under 38 U.S.C. 7431(e)(1)(A), not less 
often than once every 2 years, the Secretary must prescribe for 
Department-wide applicability the minimum and maximum amounts of annual 
pay that may be paid to VHA physicians, dentists, and podiatrists. 38 
U.S.C. 7431(e)(1)(B) allows the Secretary to prescribe separate minimum 
and maximum amounts of annual pay for a specialty or assignment. 
Pursuant to 38 U.S.C. 7431(e)(1)(C), 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.
    In addition, under 38 U.S.C. 7431(e)(4), the total amount of 
compensation paid to a physician, dentist, or podiatrists under title 
38 of the United States Code cannot exceed, in any year, the amount of 
annual compensation (excluding expenses) of the President. For the 
purposes of subparagraph 7431(e)(4), ``the total amount of 
compensation'' includes base pay, market pay, performance pay, 
recruitment, relocation, and retention incentives, incentive awards for 
performance and special contributions, and fee basis earnings.

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

[[Page 43262]]

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.
    On April 8, 2019, the President signed Public Law 116-12, which 
amended 38 U.S.C. 7431 to include podiatrists within the physician and 
dentist pay system, authorizing podiatrists to receive base pay, market 
pay, and performance pay.
    With the amendment, podiatrists are also subject to the same 
limitations and requirements as physician and dentists under 7431.
    With regard to the Pay Tables for physicians and dentists, there 
have been changes to the minimum and maximum amounts for Pay Table 5. 
However, the minimum and maximum amounts for Pay Tables 1-4 have 
remained unchanged since the 2016 publication in the Federal Register.

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/health care system. The 
Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), Hospital and 
Healthcare Compensation Service (HHCS), Sullivan, Cotter, and 
Associates (S&C), Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), 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 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 40 
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 salary 
data which helps to minimize disparities and aberrations that may 
surface from data involving smaller numbers 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 VHA physicians, dentists, 
and podiatrists.
    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 is to provide ranges large enough to accommodate career 
progression, geographic differences, sub-specialization, and other 
special factors.
    Clinical specialties were reviewed against available, relevant 
private sector data. The specialties are grouped into four clinical pay 
ranges that reflect comparable complexity in salary, recruitment, and 
retention considerations. One recommendation was made to rename 
Anesthesiology Pain Management in Pay Table 3 to Pain Management 
(Interventional and Non-Operating Room (OR) Anesthesiology). This 
change is necessary to distinguish that Interventional/Non-OR 
Anesthesiology is the primary role. Two additional pay ranges apply to 
VHA Chiefs of Staff and executive level administrative assignments at 
the facility, network, or headquarters level. There is a change to Pay 
Table 5.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
                    Tier level                       Minimum    Maximum
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                       Pay Table 5--Chief of Staff
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TIER 1............................................   $150,000   $350,000
TIER 2............................................    147,000    325,000
TIER 3............................................    145,000    300,000
TIER 4............................................    140,000    275,000
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                    Pay Table 5--Covered Assignments
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VHA Chiefs of Staff--Tier assignments are based on published facility
 complexity level: Network Chief Medical Officer, Chief of Staff
 Complexity Levels 1a & 1b Chief of Staff Complexity Level 1c, Deputy
 Network Chief Medical Officer, Chief of Staff Complexity Level 2, Chief
 of Staff Complexity Level 3, and All Deputy Chiefs of Staff.
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                   Pay Table 6--Executive Assignments
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TIER 1............................................    145,000    304,750
TIER 2............................................    145,000    249,900
TIER 3............................................    130,000    235,000
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               Pay Table 6--Covered Executive Assignments
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Principal Deputy, Deputy Under Secretary for Health, Chief Officer,
 Network Director, Medical Center Director, Network Chief Officer,
 Executive Director, Assistant Under Secretary for Health, VA Central
 Office Chief Consultant, National Director, National Program Manager
 and other VA Central Office Physician/Dentist.
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Signing Authority

    The Secretary of Veterans Affairs approved this document and 
authorized the undersigned to sign and submit the document to the 
Office of the Federal Register for publication electronically as an 
official document of the Department of Veterans Affairs. Robert L. 
Wilkie, Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs, approved this 
document on August 8, 2019, for publication.

    Dated: August 15, 2019.
Jeffrey M. Martin,
Assistant Director, Office of Regulation Policy & Management, Office of 
the Secretary, Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2019-17901 Filed 8-19-19; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8320-01-P