Believe it or not, if you are on a wRVU-based compensation formula, you may make substantially more — or substantially less — in 2021 if you maintain your 2020 productivity level, without any changes to your employment agreement.
How? CMS shuffled the wRVU values of many CPT codes for the 2021 Fee Schedule. Office-based specialties will see increases. Surgeons and diagnostic specialties will see decreases.
Almost all wRVU-based compensation formulas rely on wRVU values set by CMS. If CMS ups the wRVU values for the CPT codes you bill the most, then your wRVU totals will increase, and, accordingly, your compensation will increase.
What should you do to prepare now? You may want to move under a wRVU formula if you are in an office-based practice like family medicine. Your employer may want to change your employment agreement to keep you under the 2020 fee schedule instead of a higher 2021 fee schedule.
Watch this 5-minute video so that you are not caught off guard about this change.