Mine RVUs for benchmarking data
Mine RVUs for benchmarking data
Numbers can help compare best practices
Once your practice has created a data bank of relative value units (RVUs) for various procedures, this information can be used to establish benchmarks for measuring and comparing the productivity of the various physicians in the group. "You only need to take this process one step further to enhance its accuracy sufficiently to use it for benchmarking," says Beverly Donehoo, director of Banner Healthcare Solutions, a Fairfax, VA, consulting firm. To start:
· Simultaneously track each physician's charges - or receipts, if available - for the same CPT codes you used to compile work RVU (wRVU) data for the physician productivity profiles (see related story on p. 142).
· Compare them against the total of all charges or receipts for that physician by computing them as a percentage of the physician's total charges or receipts.
· Divide the wRVU total by that same percentage to gain an estimate of the total wRVUs generated.
For instance, on the sample data portrayed on the accompanying chart, Dr. Jones' 2,243 wRVUs for the 22 CPT codes studied (these codes are the most common ones utilized by the practice) correlate to $165,000 in receipts. Meanwhile, Dr. Jones' total receipts for all care delivered during the same period is $187,500. Dividing $165,000 by $187,500 yields .88, which means the 22 CPT codes studied theoretically account for 88% of all care Dr. Jones delivered. Because it is more valuable to have a productivity number for the total care delivered - without having to crunch numbers for all CPT codes the physician used - you divide the total wRVU (2,243) by .88, to get 2,549. This is the estimated total wRVU for all care Dr. Jones delivered.
[Editor's note: Here's how to order a copy of the Oct. 31, 1997, issue of the Federal Register, which lists the complete 1998 physician work RVUs for the Medicare fee schedule. For a hard copy, write to: New Orders, Superintendent of Documents, P.O. Box 371954, Pittsburgh, PA 15250-7954; specify stock number 069-001-00101 and enclose a check or money order payable to the Superintendent of Documents. You can place credit card orders via phone: (202) 512-1800; or fax: (202) 512-2250. The cost is $8.
For a version on 3.5-inch personal computer diskette in ASCII and WordPerfect 6.1 file formats, write to: Superintendent of Documents, Electronic Products, P.O. Box 37082, Washington, DC 20013-7082, enclosing a check or money order. To place a credit card order, phone: (202) 512-1530; or fax: (202) 512-1262. The cost is $17.
You also can download the list directly from the Internet as follows:
(1) Go to: http://www.access.gpo.gov/su_docs/aces/ aces140.html
(2) Click on the box labeled "1997 Federal Register."
(3) Click on the box labeled "Final Rules and Regulations."
(4) Click on the "On" circle. In the date range box under the "Issue Date" heading, type: "10/31/97."
(5) In the "Search Term" box, type: "Medicare Program; Revisions to Payment Policies and Adjustments."
(6) Download the PDF file.]
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