title: Relative value units: from A to Z, Part 4.
abstract: The previous three articles in this series discussed relative value unit (RVU) basics and touched on some of the more practical applications of RVUs for managing a medical practice. 1-3 This fourth and final article illustrates the what, why, when, where and how of benchmarking RVUs. Benchmarking is often defined as a standard of measurement or evaluation, but in its truest sense, it is the ongoing process of establishing a standard of excellence and comparing activities to that standard. Health care has yet to establish true benchmarks, but it does have performance indicators for better-performing practices based on several criteria.
authors.affiliation: KPG Enterprises, 6680 S. Abilene Way, Centennial, CO 80111, USA. kathrynglass@aol.com
authors.forename: Kathryn P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Glass
authors.forename: Neill F
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Piland
mesh_terms: D019985:Benchmarking / Q000379:methods*; D017598:Efficiency, Organizational; D006801:Humans; D010561:Personnel Staffing and Scheduling; D011216:Practice Management, Medical / Q000592:standards*; D017064:Process Assessment, Health Care; D019984:Quality Indicators, Health Care; D015895:Relative Value Scales; D014481:United States; D016526:Workload