Collections Per Work RVU for Private Radiology Groups: BFMV Data v. Published Benchmarks

Hospitals and health systems nationwide are negotiating supplemental payments with their private radiology group affiliates. These payments help ensure the radiologists are paid fair market value compensation for their hospital facility services. In our work helping facilitate discussions between radiology groups and health systems, we've observed a stumbling block: the story told by compensation surveys as to what private groups should be collecting per work RVU does not reflect the real-world experience of many radiology groups.

Based on our analysis of data from radiology groups around the country, blended collections per wRVU for diagnostic (“DR”) and interventional (“IR”) radiology range from $44 at the 25th percentile to $50 at the median to $57 at the 75th percentile. However, the published 2024 benchmarks from various physician compensation surveys show markedly higher collection rates. One national benchmark source shows blended radiology collections per wRVU ranging from $52 to $92, with a median rate in the mid-$60s.

If a health system relies on the published collections numbers to guide its expectations, the group's billing practices may appear weak because they are not collecting what they "should be." However, the evidence we've seen speaks to weaknesses in the survey data, including small sample sizes and significant fluctuation in respondents year over year. For example, one survey source showed that median collections per work RVU grew by almost $10 in one year for radiologists. At the same time, the survey sample size dropped from 28 radiology groups down to 7.  

Health systems and radiology groups preparing to enter into subsidy negotiations can expect to encounter this benchmark issue. Contact us for more information or assistance with these types of discussions, including fair market value compensation for call coverage, contrast supervision, and mobile imaging.