Radiology RVU Calculator [Updated 2026 CMS Data]

Radiology RVU Calculator

This radiology RVU calculator turns a worklist into a live work RVU (wRVU) total, projected income at your contract rate, and an annualized figure against a productivity target. Tally exams from a 169-code library — radiography, CT, MR, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, mammography, fluoroscopy and image-guided procedures — with −/+ steppers or direct counts, and read the running total, the per-modality split, and a copyable one-line summary. Every value is the CY2026 CMS professional work RVU for that CPT, so the output reflects the interpretation credit you actually book.

Editable settings drive the projection — $/wRVU (or a flat $/study rate to weigh a per-read offer), hours in session for RVU/hour and $/hour, clinical days/year, and an annual wRVU target — so every figure tracks your contract rather than a national average. A subspecialty filter (neuro, body, MSK, cardiac, breast, vascular, IR) narrows the list to your reading, and the annualized pace is placed on a peer percentile scale. Worklist and settings persist in your browser. Use it to clock a shift in real time, convert volume into income per hour, or sanity-check productivity before a contract conversation.

The RVU Mechanics That Actually Affect Your Pay

Compensation models hinge on three distinctions that are rarely taught and easy to get wrong:

• Work vs total RVU. Total RVU = work + practice-expense (PE) + malpractice (MP), each GPCI-adjusted. Productivity compensation is keyed to the work component alone; PE and MP follow whoever owns the technical side. This tool sums wRVU only.
• Professional (−26) carries the same work RVU as global. All physician work lives in the professional component, so reading hospital studies (hospital bills TC) books the identical wRVU shown here — the global code adds technical PE, not extra work.
• $/wRVU is not the conversion factor. The CY2026 CMS conversion factor is ~$33.40 (non-QP) to ~$33.57 (QP) per total RVU — a Medicare payment rate. A contract $/wRVU applies to work RVUs alone and runs ~$45–$60 for diagnostic radiology. Multiplying wRVU by the conversion factor is the classic costing error; enter your contract rate instead.

How to Use the Calculator

1. Build the worklist — filter by modality and subspecialty, or search by name/CPT, then set counts. Only non-zero rows contribute; the CPT and its 2026 wRVU show on each row.
2. Read the live totals — studies, total wRVU, dollar value, RVU/hour and $/hour, and a per-modality breakdown showing where the work concentrates.
3. Set rate and benchmarks — $/wRVU or flat $/study, hours in session, clinical days/year, annual wRVU target.
4. Annualize — the tool scales the day across your clinical days, projects annual wRVU and income, places it on a peer percentile scale, and shows progress against target. Copy the summary for a productivity note.

Professional wRVU by Modality (2026 CMS)

Reading the Annual Number

A full-time diagnostic radiologist generates roughly 8,000–13,000 wRVU/year (MGMA median near 10,500; academic generally below private practice). Two readers with identical study counts can differ by 50% on mix alone — a CT/MR-weighted body or neuro list accrues far faster than plain film or screening mammography. Benchmark like with like: subspecialty, shift type, and whether the figure is professional-only or global. And wRVU credit is not collections — that depends on payer mix and the technical component.

The calculator’s benchmark scale maps your annualized pace onto the survey-style percentile distribution below, so a single shift becomes a percentile rather than a number you have to interpret cold:

Coding Traps That Skew the Count

• Combined CT abdomen/pelvis is one code (74176–74178), not abdomen + pelvis; w/wo outranks single-phase. Wrong-phase selection is the commonest miscount.
• Guidance and add-ons stack. Image-guidance (76942, 77002, 77012) is reported alongside the procedure; the library lists them separately so both are captured.
• Values are re-priced annually. These are the CY2026 release — a code worth 1.82 last year may be 1.77 now. State the data year whenever you quote productivity.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many wRVUs does a radiologist generate per day?

A full clinical day typically runs 40–55 wRVU, scaling to 8,000–13,000/year over ~220–240 clinical days. Mix dominates: a CT/MR-heavy body or neuro shift can exceed 60 wRVU; a plain-film or screening day may sit below 30. Enter a representative day and use the annualize panel to see where it lands.

How many RVUs per hour should a radiologist generate?

RVU/hour is the cleanest cross-job comparison because it neutralizes shift length — a 9-hour day at 6 RVU/hr and an 8-hour day at ~6.8 RVU/hr produce the same daily total but very different intensity. Diagnostic shifts commonly run 5–8 wRVU/hour; high-acuity cross-sectional or teleradiology lists push 9–12+, while plain-film or procedure-heavy time sits lower. Enter your hours in the calculator to read RVU/hr and $/hr directly — the figure most job postings now quote alongside $/wRVU.

What wRVU percentile am I in?

For full-time diagnostic radiology, survey-style anchors put the 25th percentile near 9,500, the median near 11,950, the 75th near 14,500, and the 90th near 17,500 annual wRVU — roughly 41 / 52 / 63 / 76 wRVU per day over 230 days. So the “70–80 RVU/day” figure that worries people is actually around the 90th percentile: a genuinely heavy list, not a baseline. The calculator annualizes a representative day and places it on this scale automatically. Always compare like with like — FTE, subspecialty, call burden, and professional-only vs global crediting all move the number.

What is the average dollar per wRVU for radiologists?

Diagnostic radiology contract rates generally fall in the $45–$60 per wRVU range, higher for IR and in some subspecialty or high-demand markets. This is distinct from the CMS conversion factor (~$33.40–$33.57 per total RVU in 2026). Always model with your own contract figure.

Does the professional component have a different wRVU than the global code?

No — the −26 professional component carries the same work RVU as the global code, because all physician work is in the interpretation. The global code adds technical-component PE, not work. A radiologist reading hospital studies books the full wRVU shown here even though the hospital bills TC separately.

Should I multiply my wRVUs by the Medicare conversion factor to estimate income?

No. The conversion factor applies to total RVUs and is a Medicare payment rate, not a compensation rate — multiplying it by work RVUs understates pay and mixes incompatible quantities. Use your contract $/wRVU, which applies to work RVUs alone.

Where do these wRVU values come from?

The CY2026 CMS Physician Fee Schedule Relative Value File (PPRRVU release), using the work RVU for each CPT. Values are professional work only and exclude PE, MP and geographic adjustment. CMS re-prices the file each year, and individual codes can change.

References

1. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. PFS Relative Value Files — RVU26A (CY2026). PPRRVU2026 work RVUs used in this calculator.
2. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. CY2026 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule (CMS-1832-F). CY2026 conversion factors.
3. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Physician Fee Schedule Look-up Tool. Per-code RVU verification.
4. Medical Group Management Association (MGMA). Provider Compensation and Productivity Data. Specialty wRVU and compensation benchmarks.

Uses CY2026 CMS work RVUs for estimation; income figures are projections from a user-entered rate. In case of discrepancy, the current CMS fee schedule and your contract terms take precedence. CPT® is a registered trademark of the American Medical Association.

 

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