VA Committee on Appropriations Recommendations
NAVAPD was approached by the VA Committee on Appropriations to get our view of what is needed by physicians and dentists to choose VA as a career. The comments we provided show multiple areas where NAVAPD has identified significant gaps in compensation which, when looked at, make VA a less than desirable career for physicians and dentists. We have provided our recommendations to the Appropriations Committee to close the pay gap.
NAVAPD was approached by the VA Committee on Appropriations to get our view of what is needed by physicians and dentists to choose VA as a career. The comments we provided show multiple areas where NAVAPD has identified significant gaps in compensation which, when looked at, make VA a less than desirable career for physicians and dentists. We have provided our recommendations to the Appropriations Committee to close the pay gap.
In order maintain the highest quality healthcare for our nation’s veterans, the VA must be able to recruit and retain high quality physicians and dentists. In order to recruit and retain these healthcare providers, NAVAPD advises, supports, and recommends an increase in salaries for VA ‘s physician and dentist workforce.
All physician and dentist salaries must be increased across all tiers.
The physician and dentist compensation package currently includes base pay, market pay, and performance pay. All three of these pillars must be increased for VA to expect to retain its healthcare providers.
Base pay needs to be increased. It is unreasonable to expect a physician or dentist to start out with a base pay of $117,000. Most large hospital organizations start out their physicians at $185,000.
Market pay in most areas of the country is not enough to close the gap between base pay and pay for an equivalent physician or dentist in the civilian sector. Market Pay must be re-evaluated on a city-by-city basis to make VA competitive.
The third pillar of the current pay structure is Performance pay. Performance pay is not meted out fairly across the enterprise, and all too often performance metrics are unattainable, or are arbitrarily decided upon by Service Managers, Chiefs of Staff, Directors etc. Performance pay is also arbitrarily capped for certain physicians and dentists where they are unable to achieve the 7.5% or $15,000 maximum.
When combined, these three factors lead to a significant disparity in compensation between VA’s physicians and dentists and their civilian colleagues.
Significantly increasing compensation by increasing base pay, market pay and performance pay will help VA recruit and retain its healthcare workforce.
NAVAPD recommends consideration of recruitment and retention incentives. This is done across other departments in the Federal Government such as Department of the Army and Navy. Recruitment and retention incentive may be considered as lump sum payments in consideration for time in service to VA and/or may be in consideration for educational debt repayment or forgiveness. VA can use educational debt repayment as a recruitment tool. The average physician coming out of medical school has $300,000 of educational debt, and the average dentist coming out of a private dental school has nearly $275,000 of educational debt. With that much debt burdening young physicians and dentists, VA will need an educational debt repayment plan if it expects to recruit and retain them.
Another way VA can improve its physician and dentist workforce is to offer relocation incentives. NAVAPD recommends a uniform $5000 relocation incentive for joining any VA if a physician or dentist’s current location is more than 100 miles of the new VA location. This relocation incentive would be a one-time payment to the employee within the first two pay periods of VA employment. By offering relocation incentives, VA would be able to leverage it’s workforce and mobilize physicians and dentists to critically low clinics and medical centers.
NAVAPD recommends an increase to the stipend allocated for continuing medical education and we advise and recommend that money for physicians and dentists to use for continuing medical education be allowed for all physicians and dentists regardless of individual specialty or board certification. Currently VA only allows $1000 for board certified physicians and dentists. The majority of VA’s dentist workforce are general dentists and there is no board certification for general dentistry. As such, most medical centers deny their dental staff any money for continuing education based on the lack of board certification. NAVAPD recommends doubling the allowance to $2000 per physician or dentist per year. We also recommend this benefit to be allowed for any physician or dentist regardless of specialty or board certification (or lack thereof).
NAVAPD urges the Appropriations committee to consider these recommendations and advice when planning the budget for VA. We urge Congress to help us strengthen the physician and dentist workforce in VA and make VA the employer of choice for new physicians and dentists.
Please help NAVAPD make your voice heard. Please contact your Senators and Congresspersons and urge them to implement these recommendations. We are here to support you. Please tell your colleagues about NAVAPD and ask them to join using the Join Now! button on the website. You can reach us using the Contact Us feature on the website.