Hi all, I'm on the trail for PCCM jobs and was offered an academic position in a large coastal metroplex. They quoted a wRVU goal of 6200 with a bonus of $30 per wRVU over that. I'm new to billing side of things. How attainable or "busy" is the RVU goal and is this typically attached on all academic or PP jobs?
RVU goals and expectations
- Thread starter ecmoelmo
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You will need to provide more specifics before anyone can tell you whether that is an attainable goal.
What is the mix of ICU vs pulm (how many weeks of critical care vs inpt pulm vs outpt pulm)?
Are some of your shifts nights? (much less billing at night generally)
How many beds will you cover per ICU shift?
How many outpatient clinics will you have per week?
Just ask your potential employer,
a) are there other docs on your same schedule in terms of total shifts, etc?
and b) if so, what have they averaged over the past few years in terms of wRVU over goal
If the employer is not willing to give you that information, look elsewhere for work.
I personally have an academic job with a fixed salary linked to an expected wRVU target (calculated according to each individual's split of inpatient vs outpatient vs research, etc). We then get a bonus for wRVU over target. No one in my group has ever not met their target.
What is the mix of ICU vs pulm (how many weeks of critical care vs inpt pulm vs outpt pulm)?
Are some of your shifts nights? (much less billing at night generally)
How many beds will you cover per ICU shift?
How many outpatient clinics will you have per week?
Just ask your potential employer,
a) are there other docs on your same schedule in terms of total shifts, etc?
and b) if so, what have they averaged over the past few years in terms of wRVU over goal
If the employer is not willing to give you that information, look elsewhere for work.
I personally have an academic job with a fixed salary linked to an expected wRVU target (calculated according to each individual's split of inpatient vs outpatient vs research, etc). We then get a bonus for wRVU over target. No one in my group has ever not met their target.
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Overall it is likely not a great offer but for a metroplex it may be.
As above the crucial thing is tot ask the recruiter what an average new hire generates in the first few years or if they don't know ask for contact info for newer faculty. If you are supervising multiple fellows in clinic for example that could be an easy number to get to but if it is just you solo and you are doing half nights 1/4 clinic 1/4 day ICU then it will be tough.
Thanks guys. It seems that the members of the division gets 7000 - 9500 wRVU per year so they always hit the goal and get a wRVU bonus. Academic institution with fellows and residents.
Service divided as follows:
8 weeks MICU (18 beds) - no clinic expectations while on service
12 weeks MICU B (8 bed cap, lower acuity) - 4 half day clinics while on service
12 weeks inpt pulm consults (not sure of patient load) - 3 half day clinics while on service
14 weeks LTACH/rehab/pulm consults (fairly light) - 5 half day clinics while on service
Half day clinics are 40 min for new, 20 min for established.
8 weekends total a year
Standard PTO/sick days. Base salary ~340k, with wRVU bonuses, ranges 360k - 435k if you account for the wRVU bonus. Saturated coastal metro.
Service divided as follows:
8 weeks MICU (18 beds) - no clinic expectations while on service
12 weeks MICU B (8 bed cap, lower acuity) - 4 half day clinics while on service
12 weeks inpt pulm consults (not sure of patient load) - 3 half day clinics while on service
14 weeks LTACH/rehab/pulm consults (fairly light) - 5 half day clinics while on service
Half day clinics are 40 min for new, 20 min for established.
8 weekends total a year
Standard PTO/sick days. Base salary ~340k, with wRVU bonuses, ranges 360k - 435k if you account for the wRVU bonus. Saturated coastal metro.
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That’s a lot of work.
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Seems like reasonable numbers based on the work-load. I agree that you will be very busy.
I currently do 18-22 weeks of total service time with no clinic during those weeks. My off service weeks are 5 half days of clinic. I make $30-100K less than you potentially will, so that is the trade off I guess.
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8 weekends total? Who is covering the ICU on your weeks there? Or is it a shared call pool where you have to round on 28 ICU patients you don't know, the input pulm service and the ltach in the worst weekend of your life?
They are working you a lot for that salary especially with so many half clinics stacked on other services where they can squeeze in 3 patients per hour which is pretty ****ty for an academic gig. Now if you get to peace out at 1-2 while the fellow covers and just cosign notes instead of writing your own it might be a lot better than it looks but I doubt it with all those half clinics. For a saturated metro area it is probably an ok offer.
Did you shop around and get another offer in the same area to see what the market is? Is there a noncompete?
Weekend cover is very busy for those 8 weekends. Cover both micus, and consults. The ltach is largely not staffed over weekends unless emergencies
Ranges in the city are 175-340k. They vary based on clinical work load, location, and academic medical center prestige. This gig is on the more intense side for sure. Non compete for 1 year, 5 mile radius
PP in the area pays about the same from my sense but no support from fellows/residents. Maybe better wRVU bonus.
If one thing is for sure, no matter where, there is no free lunch.
Aren’t there gigs where you can block weeks for inpatient consults, clinic and MICU strictly?
Yes but you take a pay cut. Again, no free lunch
As long it doesn’t dip below a certain range, I’d be okay with it.
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I am a bit surprised at how low the wRVUs are for that level of work.
Is this a true academic job where you have a platinum tier medmal and a bulldog in house medmal lawyer owned by the instutution? That is a **** ton of risk those 8 weekends with a bunch of trainees basically running it. Is it a good hospital or are you going to be getting mid-low tier residents/fellows? That matters in my experience--when I moonlighted during fellowship the residents at the crap tier hospital I worked at would miss super obvious stuff and cause complications with procedures so they truly required handholding the entire time whereas at my main hospital the residents could run the ICU alone a good portion of the time and didnt need supervision for anything they were expected to be able to do.
That is a ton of service time and clinic. You're basically on service the entire year? You should have no trouble hitting 7000 wRVU in my opinion. You should be making at least 400K for that workload.
For comparison:
I work at a research-heavy academic center in the Midwest.
I do 24-26 weeks of service a year, about 6-8 weeks ICU, and 16-18 weeks of consults. ICU census 14 patients. Typically consult census 6-12 patients. 2-3 clinics per week either on or off service. A couple ICU nights per month. 8 weekends per year. Random outpatient bronchs, only 2-4 per month.
I am generating 5500-6500 wRVU per year. That doesn't include time spent in research, running clinical trials etc which are part of job expectations and generate money but are difficult to quantify.
I am making about 260K a year
