RVU (Relative Value Unit)
A Relative Value Unit (RVU) is the basic unit of measure in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) that quantifies the relative work, practice expense, and malpractice cost of each physician service (CPT code), used to calculate Medicare payment and physician productivity.
What is an RVU?
Total RVUs for a CPT code have three components: Work RVU (wRVU — measuring physician time, skill, mental effort, and stress, comprising approximately 50–54% of total RVU value), Practice Expense RVU (PE RVU — measuring clinical staff time, supplies, and equipment, comprising 41–45%), and Malpractice RVU (PLI RVU — measuring professional liability insurance cost, comprising approximately 4%). Geographic Practice Cost Index (GPCI) values are applied separately to each component to adjust for regional cost differences. Medicare payment is calculated as: (wRVU × GPCI_w + PE_RVU × GPCI_pe + PLI_RVU × GPCI_m) × Conversion Factor. The 2024 Medicare Conversion Factor is $32.74 per RVU. Common wRVU benchmarks: 99213 (established office visit, low complexity) = 0.97 wRVU; 99214 (moderate complexity) = 1.50 wRVU; 99215 (high complexity) = 2.11 wRVU. Employed physicians are typically compensated in part based on wRVU production versus MGMA specialty benchmarks. CMS updates the Conversion Factor and RVU values annually in the Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule, typically released in November for the following calendar year.
Why It Matters for Healthcare Analytics
RVU-based analytics allow practices to compare provider productivity independent of charge amounts or payer mix — since an E/M code generates the same wRVU regardless of whether it was billed to Medicare or a commercial payer. Tracking wRVU production per provider, per specialty, and per clinic day against MGMA benchmarks is foundational to physician compensation management and staffing decisions.
How Vizier Tracks RVUs
Upload your billing data and ask "What is each provider's wRVU production this quarter compared to MGMA median for their specialty?" — Vizier calculates wRVU totals by provider and service type, benchmarks against specialty norms, and identifies outlier productivity patterns.