{
  "slug": "rvu-physician-compensation",
  "title": "RVU-Based Physician Compensation Calculator",
  "heading": "RVU Physician Compensation Calculator",
  "category": "financial",
  "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/rvu-physician-compensation",
  "summary": "Estimate physician pay under an RVU productivity model.",
  "description": "Most employed-physician contracts pay a base salary plus a bonus for work RVUs (wRVUs) produced above a threshold, at a conversion factor typically ranging $35–$65 per wRVU depending on specialty and market. This calculator takes your annual wRVU production, threshold, and conversion factor to estimate total compensation, then shows the effective dollars per wRVU and per-visit economics so you can sanity-check an offer or your own productivity trend against national benchmarks like MGMA data. It also estimates wRVUs from visit volume and average wRVU-per-visit if you don't have exact production numbers yet. Compensation models vary a lot by specialty — a family medicine physician might produce 4,500–6,000 wRVUs a year while a cardiologist doing procedures can exceed 9,000 — so compare against your own specialty's benchmark, not a blended average.",
  "formula": "Bonus comp = max(0, wRVUs − threshold) × conversion factor; total comp = base salary + bonus comp.",
  "dateModified": "2026-09-30",
  "run_url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/api/public/calc?tool=rvu-physician-compensation",
  "inputs": [
    {
      "id": "baseSalary",
      "label": "Base salary",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 220000,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "annualWrvu",
      "label": "Annual work RVUs produced",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 5800,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "threshold",
      "label": "wRVU threshold before bonus",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 4800,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "conversionFactor",
      "label": "Conversion factor per wRVU",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 45,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "visits",
      "label": "Annual visits (optional, for per-visit view)",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 3800,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    }
  ],
  "outputs": [
    {
      "id": "total",
      "label": "Total estimated compensation",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": true
    },
    {
      "id": "bonus",
      "label": "Productivity bonus",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "effectivePerWrvu",
      "label": "Effective $ per wRVU (total comp)",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "wrvuPerVisit",
      "label": "wRVUs per visit",
      "format": "decimal",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "compPerVisit",
      "label": "Compensation per visit",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    }
  ],
  "worked_example": {
    "inputs": [
      "Base salary: 220000 $",
      "Annual work RVUs produced: 5800",
      "wRVU threshold before bonus: 4800",
      "Conversion factor per wRVU: 45 $",
      "Annual visits (optional, for per-visit view): 3800"
    ],
    "outputs": [
      "Total estimated compensation: $265,000",
      "Productivity bonus: $45,000",
      "Effective $ per wRVU (total comp): $45.69",
      "wRVUs per visit: 1.53",
      "Compensation per visit: $70"
    ]
  },
  "how_to": {
    "title": "How to use this",
    "steps": [
      "Enter base salary ($).",
      "Enter annual work rvus produced.",
      "Enter wrvu threshold before bonus.",
      "Enter conversion factor per wrvu ($).",
      "Enter annual visits (optional, for per-visit view).",
      "Read your total estimated compensation on the right — it updates as you type.",
      "Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone."
    ]
  },
  "scenarios": [
    {
      "name": "Conservative",
      "description": "Lower-end numbers — what if things land soft?",
      "values": {
        "baseSalary": 130000,
        "annualWrvu": 3500,
        "threshold": 2900,
        "conversionFactor": 27,
        "visits": 2300
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Typical",
      "description": "Defaults — the most common real-world setup.",
      "values": {
        "baseSalary": 220000,
        "annualWrvu": 5800,
        "threshold": 4800,
        "conversionFactor": 45,
        "visits": 3800
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Ambitious",
      "description": "Higher-end numbers — what if things really pop?",
      "values": {
        "baseSalary": 350000,
        "annualWrvu": 9300,
        "threshold": 7700,
        "conversionFactor": 72,
        "visits": 6100
      }
    }
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.",
    "Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.",
    "This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant."
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "What's a typical wRVU conversion factor?",
      "a": "Ranges roughly $35-$50 for primary care and cognitive specialties, and $45-$70 for procedural or surgical specialties, per recent MGMA and AMGA surveys. Academic and nonprofit systems often sit at the lower end; private and rural practices recruiting hard sometimes pay above median to fill positions."
    },
    {
      "q": "Is a higher conversion factor always a better deal?",
      "a": "Not necessarily — check the base salary and threshold together. A high conversion factor with an unrealistically high threshold can mean you rarely see bonus pay, while a lower conversion factor with a low or no threshold might pay out more reliably."
    },
    {
      "q": "How do I estimate my wRVUs if I don't track them?",
      "a": "Multiply your visit count by average wRVU per visit for your specialty and typical coding level — commonly 1.3-1.6 for primary care level 3-4 visits, higher for procedures. Your billing department or EHR productivity report usually has the exact number already."
    },
    {
      "q": "Does this include benefits and non-clinical pay?",
      "a": "No — this is base plus productivity bonus only. Add CME allowance, retirement match, and malpractice coverage value separately when comparing full offers, since these can add $20,000-$40,000 of total value that a pure wRVU comparison misses."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/medical-practice-cost-per-visit",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/telehealth-vs-in-person-margin"
  ],
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "citation": "RevenueLab — RVU-Based Physician Compensation Calculator (https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/rvu-physician-compensation)"
}