Methodology · 36C77626Q0191

How the five tasks connect into one pipeline.

VHA's scale — roughly 380,000 employees across three pay systems — means the work only holds together if the tasks share one data spine. Below: the task-by-task approach, the engagement sequence, and the dual-layer quality control that makes every number defensible.

1Task 1

Salary-Survey Identification & Purchasing

Identify and license the published compensation surveys that cover VHA's clinical, allied-health, and administrative occupations.

HSG Approach

We know precisely which published surveys price each VHA occupation — SullivanCotter, MGMA, AMGA, ECRI, Mercer — and are positioned to license and purchase the right ones for this engagement, anchored by the free BLS OEWS public dataset that statute requires for nurse locality pay. Each occupation is matched to its most authoritative source.

Tour the Survey Source Library
2Task 2

Employee-Data & Survey-Findings Analysis

Match VHA occupations to survey benchmarks and compute competitive position by percentile.

HSG Approach

A confidence-scored crosswalk engine maps each VHA occupation to benchmark jobs, then computes P10–P90, compa-ratio, market index, and range penetration — surfacing exactly where VHA leads or lags the market.

Open the Benchmarking Dashboard
3Task 3

Application of Geographic Differentials

Adjust market data to each facility's local labor market — the core of the §7451 Nurse Locality Pay System.

HSG Approach

We anchor every facility to BLS OEWS metro wage data and layer an ERI cost-of-labor model, producing per-facility geographic factors and the annual local labor-market survey each VAMC director must file.

Explore Geographic Differentials
4Task 4

Cloud-Based Database (4A–4I)

Provide the cloud platform that reformats, enters, analyzes, and reports the data end-to-end.

HSG Approach

Our cloud platform runs the full pipeline (4A–4I) — secure ingest, survey reformatting, job-match, percentile analysis, geographic differentials, catalog versioning, dashboards, and immutable audit lineage. This portal is a working demonstration of it.

Walk the Task 4 Pipeline
5Task 5

Job-Architecture Catalog Maintenance

Maintain a versioned catalog of VHA occupations, families, levels, and benchmark crosswalks.

HSG Approach

A governed, effective-dated catalog ties every occupation to its pay authority (Title 38 / Hybrid / Title 5), grade band, headcount, and benchmark source — with full change history the VA retains.

Browse the Job-Architecture Catalog

Data Collection & Intake · Task 4 (4A–4B)

Where the data comes from — and how the facility survey is run.

The Task 4 database reformats and enters data from three sources. Two arrive as feeds — VA-furnished employee data and the purchased commercial surveys — and the third is collected from the field on a structured, §7451-anchored instrument. No SSNs or employee names are ever collected; the roster captures counts and rates only.

VA feed

VA-furnished employee data

Source:
VA HR & payroll systems (HR Smart / USA Staffing extracts)
Mechanism:
Secure system feed / encrypted bulk upload into the Task 4 enclave
Sensitivity:
CUI / PII — minimized to counts, grades, and rates (no SSNs)
Licensed feed

Purchased commercial survey findings

Source:
SullivanCotter, MGMA, AMGA, ECRI, Mercer, BLS OEWS
Mechanism:
Licensed survey files normalized to a common schema (4C)
Sensitivity:
Proprietary / licensed — redistribution governed by license terms
Field-collected

Facility-collected local market data

Source:
VAMC / VISN compensation coordinators (the survey instrument)
Mechanism:
Structured online instrument — the submission architecture below
Sensitivity:
CUI — local comparator wages, rosters, vacancy indicators

Who responds

VAMC / VISN compensation coordinators

38 U.S.C. §7451 requires each facility to survey its local labor market annually; §7431 facility Compensation Panels validate physician market pay. The designated coordinator submits on the facility's behalf.

  • VAMC Human Resources / Compensation Officer
  • Nurse Locality Pay Survey coordinator (§7451)
  • VISN-level compensation lead (multi-facility rollup)
  • Facility Compensation Panel recorder (§7431 physician pay)

The §7451 facility instrument

5 sections · ~33 min
1Facility identification~3 min
2Covered-occupation roster~12 min
3Local market comparators~10 min
4Recruitment & retention indicators~6 min
5Certification & attestation~2 min
Open the working instrument

Distribution lifecycle — invitation to certified data

1

Build distribution list

Admin

RBAC · station binding

2

Authenticate & invite

Admin → Coordinator

PIV/CAC SSO · tokenized link

3

Open collection window

Coordinator

Session timeout · draft encryption

4

Monitor & remind

Admin

Audit-logged actions

5

Validate & QA

Analyst / QA

Validation rules (4B) · reconciliation log

6

Certify & lock

Coordinator

Re-authentication · immutable lock

7

Export to Task 4

Admin / Data Ops

Encrypted export · lineage (4I)

Engagement Sequence

A twelve-week analytical cycle, refreshed on cadence.

  1. Weeks 1–2 · Mobilize

    Survey licensing & data intake

    Identify and license the required surveys (Task 1), execute the VHA employee-data extract spec (Task 4B), and stand up the secure cloud tenancy.

  2. Weeks 3–5 · Architect

    Job-architecture catalog build

    Map every occupation to pay authority, family, level, and benchmark source (Task 5). CJE sign-off on each crosswalk.

  3. Weeks 5–8 · Analyze

    Survey reformatting & benchmarking

    Normalize survey files (4C), run the job-match engine (4D), and compute percentiles, compa-ratio, and market index (Task 2 / 4E).

  4. Weeks 7–10 · Localize

    Geographic differentials

    Anchor each facility to BLS OEWS metro data, layer the ERI cost-of-labor model, and produce per-facility §7451 locality factors (Task 3 / 4F).

  5. Weeks 9–12 · Report

    Dashboards & survey packets

    Publish facility/VISN dashboards (4H), generate the survey report packets, and lock the source-to-recommendation audit trail (4I).

Cadence illustrative. The §7451 nurse-locality cycle repeats annually per facility, with an off-cycle 30-day review triggered whenever BLS publishes new OEWS metro data.

Quality Control

Every number passes through two layers and one log.

AI-assisted first pass

Survey-to-occupation matches and percentile calculations are generated by the platform with a confidence score on every crosswalk.

Credentialed expert review

A Certified Job Evaluator reviews and signs off on every mapping and grade-band determination before it reaches the VA.

Immutable reconciliation log

Each AI-generated value and each human override is recorded in the AI/Expert Reconciliation Log — the auditable spine of Task 4I.