What Is Rvu Medical Billing

We will reimburse several factors that affect the billing or fee for service.

What is rvu medical billing.

7500 security boulevard baltimore md 21244. Today we thought we d talk about one of them. What is an rvu in medical billing. The rvu is made up of three components which include the physician work the practice expense totals and malpractice.

In medical billing claims are submitted to generate reimbursement and that reimbursement depends on relative value units. It is critical to medicare medicaid and commercial health insurance reimbursements. Although compensation as defined in employment agreements differs in terms of rvu thresholds and dollars per rvu the general intent of the rvu model is to pay physicians based on the amount of work performed regardless of the payer mix or amount of revenue generated. In medical billing patients or insurance companies submit claims to assist in reimbursement.

When calculating a relative value unit rvu it s easy to become overwhelmed by the math. What is a work relative value unit. The reimbursement of the physician depends upon rvu. Cpt codes are copyright 2019 american medical association.

Medicare has established an rvu relative value unit for every cpt code to determine reimbursement amounts. In wrvu compensation is based on the activity of a doctor. Each provider determines how much it will charge for services provided but that is not necessarily the amount that will get paid. However if you can look beyond the calculations you ll find that the rvu is actually a good barometer of practice efficiency and patient complexity and it can provide helpful insights into performance says andy swanson vice president of consulting services at the medical group.

Prior to the implementation of the rbrvs in 1992 physicians set charge rates for the medical care they provided to patients. Centers for medicare medicaid services. When a provider. The use of rvus to valuate medical services reformed healthcare payment systems.

Rvu stands for the relative value unit. The fee schedule includes relative value units and payment indicators for example global days if an assistant at surgery is allowed if the procedure can be billed with bilateral modifier 50 the medicare physician fee schedule has values for some cpt codes that include both a facility and a non facility fee. Your 2020 wrvu guide. This reimbursement is dependent on rvus which stands for relative value units.

There are several factors that affect the amount that will actually be reimbursed. A federal government website managed and paid for by the u s. Originally created as the principle unit of the rbrvs for cms rvus became the foundation of the medicare physician fee schedule mpfs as well as the basis of most commercial fee schedules.