WFH Radiology, help with $/wRVU

[pslfhopeful]

Hi everyone,

I'm negotiating with a local private practice to assist with their volumes as a 1099 and we have decided on a $/wRVU model to align both interests the best. Malpractice is covered by me. This is a side gig and my main W2 employer salary exceeds social security annual tax threshold.

Any radiologists out there with a sense of going market rates of $/RVU? If so, can you please put your region of the country.

[GoBlueMD]

Large range and not really region dependent. The higher the volume available, the lower the pay/case it seems. Someone usually bites.

If you negotiate directly with practices, you will get a better rate compared with using corporate groups. The rate will still be less than Medicare rate of ~40/wrvu or whatever it is.

[Zaphod]

Needs to be higher than an employed position since you're not receiving any benefits.

[zlandar]

Do you and the practice have an agreed-upon list of studies with wRVU? How and when will this data be available to calculate your pay? How about the time and amount of exams per shift?

if the wRVU is being generated on the PACS or voice recognition software that is a fast and reliable method. If you are relying on the practice's billing company that is a potential cluster.

Interesting you are covering malpractice. Have you already received a quote from your malpractice carrier including the cost of the tail?

[goldenchimpy]

To come up with a fair price per rvu you need to know the overall breakdown of cases. Straight forward ED cases is much different from staging ct cap with multiple priors. You might want to check out auntminnie as they have a bunch of discussions on this topic. Also you covering malpractice is not typical in my region and would be just about a deal breaker for me.

[FreudianSlippers]

Median was $57/wRVU in 2017 for radiology.

http://www.medpac.gov/docs/default-s...ractor_sec.pdf

[jacoavlu]

Needs to be higher than an employed position since you're not receiving any benefits.

nope. opposite

the problem is radiology reads are basically seen as a commodity right or wrong - if you’re just a name on paper then you don’t add much value to the group over and above whatever the lowest rate is out there

every situation unique of course. a desperate group could pay more. but in my region if you’re just a 1099 contractor then you’re likely not gonna get more than what i pay nighthawk

[Turf Doc]

nope. opposite

the problem is radiology reads are basically seen as a commodity right or wrong - if you’re just a name on paper then you don’t add much value to the group over and above whatever the lowest rate is out there

every situation unique of course. a desperate group could pay more. but in my region if you’re just a 1099 contractor then you’re likely not gonna get more than what i pay nighthawk

but if the alternative is working for the nighthawk he should still come out ahead right? because you cut out the middle man. plus if the nighthawk has given referrers a pain in anyway might be nicer to have it in house plus keep corp out of the picture altogether if you're concerned about losing contracts

[jacoavlu]

but if the alternative is working for the nighthawk he should still come out ahead right? because you cut out the middle man. plus if the nighthawk has given referrers a pain in anyway might be nicer to have it in house plus keep corp out of the picture altogether if you're concerned about losing contracts

maybe, i don’t know, not really the point

the point is that “going market rates” is basically the commodity floor rate unless group is desperate or has unique needs

you want to work for my group or most my neighbors and your not on site and not doing IR and not going to meetings it doesn’t really matter your qualifications it doesn’t make sense for me to pay you more than nighthawk and i don’t pay them very much certainly a lot less than i pay non partner employees

[Turf Doc]

maybe, i don’t know, not really the point

the point is that “going market rates” is basically the commodity floor rate unless group is desperate or has unique needs

you want to work for my group or most my neighbors and your not on site and not doing IR and not going to meetings it doesn’t really matter your qualifications it doesn’t make sense for me to pay you more than nighthawk and i don’t pay them very much certainly a lot less than i pay non partner employees

definitely makes sense. obviously a big paycut to read in your underwear. guessing it works best for people who are in areas where there maybe aren't good PPs around and they're very fast readers so they just make up the poor $/rvu in volume

im interested in rads and think telerad is a nice option to have since i have no clue how the corp landscape will look in 10 years plus im likely not going to live in a flyover state.

[jacoavlu]

im interested in rads and think telerad is a nice option to have

fine just recognize you’re choosing to become a commodity

[Turf Doc]

fine just recognize you’re choosing to become a commodity

if the only options in my desired location were crappy corporate jobs anyway i'd prefer to be a commodity who could at least work from home...

[jacoavlu]

if the only options in my desired location were crappy corporate jobs anyway i'd prefer to be a commodity who could at least work from home...

sad, except if you’re a med student your perspective is assumed to be extremely limited and not representative of even the meekest of working rads

[Turf Doc]

sad, except if you’re a med student your perspective is assumed to be extremely limited and not representative of even the meekest of working rads

I was being a bit tongue in cheek about the commodity thing but I don't get the hostility. You're saying that it would be meek to try and find my own PP to contract with as a telerad if my options in my desired location were all crappy corporate jobs? Assuming I wasn't going to live somewhere I didn't want to live why would I actively choose to a crappier job just so I could have the privilege of working in person?

[jacoavlu]

I was being a bit tongue in cheek about the commodity thing but I don't get the hostility. You're saying that it would be meek to try and find my own PP to contract with as a telerad if my options in my desired location were all crappy corporate jobs? Assuming I wasn't going to live somewhere I didn't want to live why would I actively choose to a crappier job just so I could have the privilege of working in person?

not meaning to be “hostile” but yes

if where you want to live the jobs suck so bad that being a 1099 is your only option then yeah you’re a commodity