Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 94 / Wednesday, May 16, 2007 / Notices 27637 

By direction of the Secretary. 

E. Philip Riggin, 

Committee Management Officer. 

[FR Doc. 07–2396 Filed 5–15–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8320–01–M 

DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS 

AFFAIRS 

Annual Pay Ranges for Physicians and 

Dentists of the Veterans Health 

Administration (VHA) 

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs. 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: As required by the 

‘‘Department of Veterans Affairs Health 

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. 

EFFECTIVE DATES: Annual pay ranges are 

effective on July 8, 2007. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Donna R. Schroeder, Director, 

Compensation and Classification 

Service (055), Office of Human 

Resources Management, Department of 

Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Avenue, 

NW., Washington, DC 20420, (202) 273–

9803. 

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 15,000 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 ........ $91,530 $175,000 

Tier 2 ........ 110,000 200,000 

Tier 3 ........ 120,000 215,000 

Tier 4 ........ 130,000 225,000 

PAY TABLE 1.—COVERED CLINICAL

SPECIALTIES

Allergy and Immunology. 

Endocrinology. 

Geriatrics. 

Infectious Diseases. 

Internal Medicine/Primary Care/Family Practice/Admitting physician. 

Neurology. 

Preventive Medicine. 

Psychiatry. 

Rheumatology. 

General Practice—Dentistry. 

Endodontics. 

Periodontics. 

Prosthodontics. 

Assignments that do not require a specific 

specialty. 


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27638 Federal Register / Vol. 72, No. 94 / Wednesday, May 16, 2007 / Notices 

PAY TABLE 2.—CLINICAL SPECIALTY

Tier level Minimum Maximum 

Tier 1 ........ $91,530 $200,000 

Tier 2 ........ 115,000 215,000 

Tier 3 ........ 130,000 225,000 

Tier 4 ........ 140,000 235,000 

PAY TABLE 2.—COVERED CLINICAL

SPECIALTIES

Critical Care (board certified). 

Emergency Medicine. 

Gynecology. 

Hematology—Oncology. 

Nephrology. 

Pathology. 

Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation/Physiatry/ 

Spinal Cord Injury. 

Pulmonary. 

PAY TABLE 3.—CLINICAL SPECIALTY

TIER level Minimum Maximum 

TIER 1 ...... $91,530 $245,000 

TIER 2 ...... 120,000 265,000 

TIER 3 ...... 135,000 275,000 

TIER 4 ...... 145,000 285,000 

PAY TABLE 3.—COVERED CLINICAL

SPECIALTIES

Cardiology (Non-invasive). 

Dermatology. 

Gastroenterology. 

Nuclear Medicine. 

Ophthalmology. 

Oral Surgery. 

PAY TABLE 3.—COVERED CLINICAL

SPECIALTIES—Continued 

Otolaryngology. 

PAY TABLE 4.—CLINICAL SPECIALTY

TIER level Minimum Maximum 

TIER 1 ...... $91,530 $270,000 

TIER 2 ...... 125,000 285,000 

TIER 3 ...... 140,000 295,000 

TIER 4 ...... 150,000 305,000 

PAY TABLE 4.—COVERED CLINICAL

SPECIALTIES

Anesthesiology. 

Cardiology (Invasive). 

General Surgery. 

Plastic Surgery. 

Radiology. 

Therapeutic Radiology. 

Urology. 

Vascular Surgery. 

PAY TABLE 5.—CHIEF OF STAFF

TIER level Minimum Maximum 

TIER 1 ...... $150,000 $260,000 

TIER 2 ...... 145,000 240,000 

TIER 3 ...... 140,000 220,000 

PAY TABLE 6.—EXECUTIVE

ASSIGNMENTS

TIER level Minimum Maximum 

TIER 1 ...... $110,000 $230,000 

PAY TABLE 6.—EXECUTIVE

ASSIGNMENTS—Continued 

TIER level Minimum Maximum 

TIER 2 ...... 110,000 250,000 

PAY TABLE 6.—COVERED EXECUTIVE

ASSIGNMENTS

Chief Officer. 

Deputy Under Secretary for Health. 

Facility Director. 

Network Chief Medical Officer. 

Network Director. 

VA Central Office Physician. 

VA Central Office Dentist. 

PAY TABLE 7.—CLINICAL SPECIALTY

TIER level Minimum Maximum 

TIER 1 ...... $91,530 $325,000 

TIER 2 ...... 140,000 350,000 

PAY TABLE 7.—COVERED CLINICAL

SPECIALTIES

Cardio-Thoracic Surgery. 

Neurosurgery. 

Radiology (Interventionalist). 

Dated: May 10, 2007. 

Gordon H. Mansfield, 

Deputy Secretary of the Department of 

Veterans Affairs. 

[FR Doc. 07–2401 Filed 5–15–07; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 8320–07–M 


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