wRVU Benchmark

Full definition

wRVU benchmarks are most commonly sourced from the MGMA Physician Compensation and Production Report, which publishes annual wRVU production by specialty at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th, and 90th percentile — allowing practices to position each provider's productivity relative to national peers. Benchmarks vary substantially by specialty: a family medicine physician at the 50th MGMA percentile produces approximately 4,700–5,000 wRVUs annually, while a cardiologist at the same percentile may exceed 8,000 wRVUs given the procedure intensity of the specialty. Compensation plan design typically anchors physician pay to a target MGMA percentile: a practice that sets the 50th percentile as its compensation target should ensure the conversion factor (dollars per wRVU) produces market-rate pay at the wRVU production associated with that percentile for the specialty. Healthcare investors use wRVU benchmarks during due diligence to assess whether the target practice's providers are high performers or underperforming relative to specialty peers — and whether the revenue assumptions in the acquisition model are grounded in sustainable productivity levels. Harine Management's provider productivity analytics service includes automatically updated MGMA benchmarking, eliminating the manual MGMA spreadsheet work that most practices otherwise perform quarterly.