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Your contract is a formula. Know it better than the administrator does.
Most physician contracts pay a base salary up to a wRVU threshold, then a conversion factor for every wRVU above it — and the difference between a $45 and $55 factor is six figures over a contract. This calculator computes your total comp, productivity bonus, and effective rate per wRVU so you can model offers before signing.
Physicians use it before contract negotiation: model the threshold and conversion factor against MGMA medians before the administrator names a number. Residents use it to understand what the attending contract they're about to sign actually pays.
Employers pay a conversion factor typically between $40 and $80 per wRVU depending on specialty and market, benchmarked against MGMA survey medians. Surgical specialties generate more wRVUs per clinic day; primary care generates fewer but with steadier volume. Always compare both your wRVU target and the factor against the specialty median — a high threshold with a low factor is a pay cut wearing a smile.
Base-plus is safer early: guaranteed income while you build a panel. Pure productivity (100% conversion factor) pays more at high volume but leaves you exposed to slow quarters, payer mix shifts, and your own vacation. Model both here: pure productivity at $52/wRVU needs about 5,300 wRVUs just to match a $275k base.
Usually nothing this year — you keep the base. But most contracts true-up at renewal: chronic below-threshold production renegotiates the base down at the next term. Some contracts also have negative accrual clauses that carry shortfalls forward. Read that clause twice.