RVU (Relative Value Unit)

An RVU is a standardized value assigned to each CPT/HCPCS code, maintained by CMS as part of the Resource-Based Relative Value Scale (RBRVS), measuring the physician work, practice expense, and malpractice risk involved in a service, independent of what any specific payer actually paid. The physician-effort component, work RVU (wRVU), is the piece most commonly used to compare coding and productivity across providers, since it strips out payer-specific pricing and reflects only the relative work involved.

Where this shows up:

Encounter Coding Intelligence converts your CPT-level coding mix into wRVUs to show how many RVUs above or below peers you are, along with a complexity comparison, broken out separately for new and established patients since the two are coded and valued differently.