NAVAPD President to meet with Florida Congresswomen Wasserman-Schultz
After conducting an extensive questionnaire with our membership about what issues are most important to them, the NAVAPD board put together a list of action items for making change.
NAVAPD President, Joseph Abate, D.M.D., is set to meet with Representative Wasserman-Schultz on November 21, 2022 to discuss what changes need to be made to support the rights of our members.
Below are the issues Dr. Abate will be discussing with Representative Wasserman-Schultz during their meeting.
Physician and Dentist Pay
NAVAPD supports increasing pay for physicians and dentists to support recruitment and retention of qualified providers.
We are asking Congress to revise the pay tables for physicians and dentists.
NAVAPD supports increasing pay for general dentists as ~90% of VA’s dentist workforce is made up of general dentists who provide all aspects of comprehensive dental care.
If the plan to increase dental care to all veterans passes Congress, VA will need to hire more dentists and the current salaries will not be competitive with the private sector.
With the passing of the PACT Act, VA Dental Services has seen a significant increase in dental eligible veterans. VA will need to hire more dentists and expand facilities to meet the increasing demand.
Community Care will not be a viable long term solution as civilian dentists are routinely submitting treatment plans in excess of $50,000 per VA patient.
Retention and Recruitment of Physicians and Dentists
NAVAPD supports recruitment and retention incentives for physicians and dentists so VA can retain its highly qualified workforce.
We are asking Congress to put retention incentives in place for all physicians and dentists regardless of specialty (or lack of specialty) If not automatic, then Congress may consider that, like the military, physicians and dentists can apply for the retention incentive provided they serve qualified years of service to VA.
HR Modernization
NAVAPD supports HR modernization, however, qualified physicians and dentists are lost because of length of time it takes to hire from announcement to onboarding.
Currently this can typically take 5-6months. NAVAPD is asking Congress to streamline the hiring process, streamline the HR processes needed for new hires, eliminate roadblocks and obstacles, set strict timelines for completion of HR processes, and require VA to fully onboard a new physician or dentist within 45 days of closing of the announcement. This will prevent delays in care to the veteran and allow for continuity of care for the veterans.
EHR deployment
NAVAPD supports a complete stop of the rollout of the new Cerner EHR due to patient safety issues reported by those physicians and dentists currently using the new system, until such time as all the issues reported are resolved, the system is rigorously tested in non-patient care environments so that patients are not put at further risk.
NAVAPD is asking for Congressional oversight of this process so that the safety of the patient is foremost before allowing any further deployments of the Cerner product.
NAVAPD is also asking that if Cerner cannot fix the new EHR that Congress will consider alternatives to the Cerner product.