RVU stands for Relative Value Unit. It is a measure of value used in the United States Medicare reimbursement formula for physician services
. RVUs are used to support the calculation of physician reimbursements and are an objective way to identify the cost components linked to procedures described in the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT)
. The calculations enable healthcare professionals to combine the time, intensity, and cost of care into a single relative ranking scale called the Resource-Based Relative Value Scale (RBRVS)
. RVUs are used not only as a reimbursement mechanism for specific procedures but also to facilitate the measurement of physician or group productivity, utilization allocation, cost benchmarking, and other performance analytics within a health system, provider, or payer
