Relative value units and productivity: Part 2 of 4.
The initial article in this series (Volume 17, No. 5: 225-228) discussed relative value unit (RVU) basics and touched on some of the more practical applications of RVUs for managing a medical practice. This article addresses how RVUs differ from encounters and fees in terms of measuring provider productivity and resource consumption. RVUs empower practice administrators to objectively measure and quantify a medical practice's physician productivity and performance data versus traditional productivity measures such as office visits, net charges, net collections, etc. The Resource-Based Relative Value Scale (RBRVS) RVU work component is specifically designed to measure physician (and midlevel provider) effort and the degree of independent decision-making skill required for performing a procedure; therefore, productivity is directly linked to provider coding.
MGMA Center for Research, 104 Inverness Terrace East, Englewood, CO 80112, USA.
Kathryn P
KP
Glass
Jeffery R
JR
Anderson
D000043:Abstracting and Indexing; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005251:Fees, Medical; D006123:Group Practice / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D009819:Office Visits / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011216:Practice Management, Medical / Q000191:economics*; D015895:Relative Value Scales; D014481:United States; D016526:Workload