wRVU as an independent contractor at the hospital

[jerryyang18]

I am an independent contractor at the hospital, currently getting paid by collections.

Now, I am negotiating a wRVU structure with the hospital while remaining as an independent contractor through my own LLC.

Looking at MGMA 2021 data, the median wRVU pays $53, and the hospital proposed 80% of $53= $42 instead because I am not employed through the hospital and the hospital is providing the office space/equipments/staff and etc.

Does $42 make sense?

Does wRVU include overhead cost, physician's benefits in addition to productivity?

I am paying for my own health insurance/malpractice insurance/retirement plan and etc. What is a reasonable wRVU to counter in this case?

Thank you for much!

[abds]

I am an independent contractor at the hospital, currently getting paid by collections.

Now, I am negotiating a wRVU structure with the hospital while remaining as an independent contractor through my own LLC.

Looking at MGMA 2021 data, the median wRVU pays $53, and the hospital proposed 80% of $53= $42 instead because I am not employed through the hospital and the hospital is providing the office space/equipments/staff and etc.

Does $42 make sense?

Does wRVU include overhead cost, physician's benefits in addition to productivity?

I am paying for my own health insurance/malpractice insurance/retirement plan and etc. What is a reasonable wRVU to counter in this case?

Thank you for much!

No it doesn’t make sense to pay you less than a fair conversion rate. It’s a work rvu because it specifically is only for the work you do. You’ll see in any Cpt book or source you can find that the total rvu is much higher. That pays for the other stuff. The hospital is trying to take advantage of you.

[Sundance]

You have it backwards. You should get 10-15% (or more) higher rate to offset for the extra taxes, etc that you’re responsible for. As stated above the “total rvu” the hospital collects is a different metric than the “work rvu” that you’re producing.

depends on your specialty. I’m paid out at 80/rvu which is about 75% of my specialty. Seems like 50-69/rvu is the common range.

[MaxPower]

You’re getting ripped off (or will be if you sign that deal). The hospital also collects facility fees for things you do at the hospital.

[BigoteGrande]

I would act like you’re in complete agreement with their reasoning regarding overhead, etc. and counter to do $42 per TOTAL RVU rather than wRVU.

[Zaphod]

You have it backwards. You should get 10-15% (or more) higher rate to offset for the extra taxes, etc that you’re responsible for. As stated above the “total rvu” the hospital collects is a different metric than the “work rvu” that you’re producing.

depends on your specialty. I’m paid out at 80/rvu which is about 75% of my specialty. Seems like 50-69/rvu is the common range.

Exactly, they arent paying malpractice or any other benefits a traditional employed doc gets so you'd need extra, not less.

[AR]

Anyone trying to pass this off is either incredibly stupid themselves or thinks that you are incredibly stupid and it is OK to take advantage of you.

It's probably the latter.

[Savedfpdoc]

They’re trying to screw you. It’s insulting. I’m fp outpatient, I get $44 per wrvu which is low….

[FIREshrink]

They’re trying to screw you. It’s insulting. I’m fp outpatient, I get $44 per wrvu which is low….

You can't directly compare $/rvu between specialties.

[Random1]

Looking at MGMA 2021 data, the median wRVU pays $53, and the hospital proposed 80% of $53= $42 instead because I am not employed through the hospital and the hospital is providing the office space/equipments/staff and etc.

Does $42 make sense?

NO


wRVU - is for physician work

Total RVU - includes overhead costs and malpractice and wRVU

You should negoatiate for wRVU, + malpractice + (intangibles)

Intangibles (or what ever you want to call it) - vacation, cme, sick time , pto, healthcare , disability , retirement , most in non medical arrangements call this a loaded salary , which should be at least or 20% or your total salary. When you don't work, you don't get paid, this means if you are sick or some other cause, you need to factor this into the equation. So , if a hospital employed doc is getter 50 per wRVU , you should be at least 60 to be equal. Also, your independent status creates another layer of taxes for you which you need to take into account.

[Otolith]

Unless you are treating very high uninsured or medicaid this is a bad deal.

[Hank]

Unless you are treating very high uninsured or medicaid this is a bad deal.

It’s still a bad deal. Do your charitable work at the free clinic downtown or in a developing country. Try to avoid doing work for little or no money while at work. There are other jobs in other parts of town or other parts of the country where you’ll do less free or underpaid work. The taxes and cost of living might be lower too.