BOARD DATE: 11 June 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160017370 BOARD VOTE: _____X____ ___X____ ____X____ GRANT FULL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF ________ ________ ________ GRANT FORMAL HEARING ________ ________ ________ DENY APPLICATION 2 Enclosures 1. Board Determination/Recommendation 2. Evidence and Consideration BOARD DATE: 11 June 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160017370 BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION: The Board determined the evidence presented is sufficient to warrant a recommendation for relief. As a result, the Board recommends that all Department of the Army records of the individual concerned be corrected by showing the applicant is authorized payment of Non-Physician Board Certification Pay for the period 1 January 2015 through 30 September 2015, utilizing a Health Professions Pay Entry Date or finance Medical Special Pay Date of 5 November 2009 for the correct pay rate. ___________X_____________ CHAIRPERSON I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case. BOARD DATE: 11 June 2017 DOCKET NUMBER: AR20160017370 THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE: 1. Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any). 2. Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any). THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant requests, in effect, retroactive Non-Physician Board Certification Pay (NPBCP) for the periods of non-pay during Fiscal Year 2015. 2. The applicant states she completed her board certification examination for being a certified nurse midwife in November 2009 and applied for board certification pay. Due to an expiration date being inadvertently inserted during her move to Fort Bliss, Texas, her certification pay ended in 2014. She submitted a request through her medical channels to finance and was able to get it reinstated for 2016; however, she must come to the Army Board for Correction of Military Records (ABCMR) to get her pay for periods during 2015. 3. The applicant provides: * an American Midwifery Certification Board Certification Letter, dated 30 December 2015 * Leave and Earning Statements (LES) for September 2016 and October 2016 * 10 pages of emails between June 2016 and September 2016 CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE: 1. The applicant currently serves on active duty in the rank of major. She is assigned in area of concentration 66G8D (Obstetric-Gynecologic Nurse-Midwife) at the Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, Fort Belvoir, VA. 2. The applicant provides: a. a letter from the from the American Midwifery Certification Board that indicates the applicant is certified and licensed as a nurse-midwife effective 5 November 2009 and her certification will expire on 31 December 2020; b. two LESs that indicate whether she was paid NPBCP for the time frame in question; and c. ten pages of email correspondence between the applicant and her branch management team on the process of correcting her retroactive NPBCP pay, which included that due to the timing the pay dates of 1 January 2015 through 30 September 2015 needs to be adjudicated by the ABCMR. 3. An advisory opinion was obtained from the Chief, Army Medical Department (AMEDD) Special Pay Branch, Office of the Surgeon General (OTSG), dated 10 May 2017, wherein he stated. a. The eligibility criteria for the Discretionary Special Pay Category of NPBCP requires officer to hold the specialty identifier, board certified in that specialty by their national professional specialty board, and trained at the master's degree level of education for their specialty. b. Requests for NPBCP are initiated by the officer through their supporting Human Resource/Personnel/S-1 office to U.S. Army Human Resources Command (HRC), Fort Knox, KY, for official file updating. In turn, HRC notifies the AMEDD Special Pay Branch to authorize NPBCP. If board certification renewals are issued, they must also be submitted to ensure NPBCP continues uninterrupted. Receipt of monthly NPBCP can be verified by the officer by reviewing the monthly LES entitlements column. Immediate action should be taken if payments are not visible or stop abruptly. c. Upon receipt of documentation and eligibility verification, this office initiated NPBCP payments at a rate of $2,000/year, payable at $166.66/month effective 1 October 2015. There is no previous record of submission, authorization, or payment of NPBCP for the period 1 January 2015 through 30 September 2015. d. A review of supporting documentation and available special pay and finance data indicates the officer met all criteria for this special pay. Upon request, the officer would have been eligible to receive the discretionary NPBCP for the missing 9-month period of 1 January 2015 through 30 September 2015. The retroactive payment of this total period is approximately $1,500 prior to any withholding. The exact payment would be determined by the Defense Finance and Accounting Services (DFAS) utilizing a Health Professions Pay Entry Date or finance Medical Special Pay Date of 5 November 2009 for the correct pay rate. 4. A copy of the advisory opinion was forwarded to the applicant on 12 May 2017 for information and to allow her the opportunity to submit comments or a rebuttal. She did not respond. REFERENCES: Title 37, U.S. Code, section 302c (Special Pay: Psychologists and Non-Physician Health Care Providers), provides guidance related to eligibility for NPBCP, an incentive to retain high-quality health care providers in the Military Departments. Subsection (d) provides that eligibility for NPBCP is limited to those officers: * in the Medical Service Corps of the Army designated as a non-physician health care provider * who are health care providers in a clinical specialty that is privilegeable * who have a post-baccalaureate degree in their clinical specialty * who are certified by a professional board in their clinical specialty DISCUSSION: The OTSG advisory opinion confirms the applicant met the requirements and was eligible to receive NPBCP payable for the period 1 January 2015 through 30 September 2015. The OTSG official further recommended she receive the NPBCP for this period. //NOTHING FOLLOWS// ABCMR Record of Proceedings AR20150000953 Enclosure 1 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160017370 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 1 ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont) AR20160017370 2 ARMY BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS Enclosure 2