In today’s healthcare landscape, providers are constantly seeking ways to improve patient care while optimizing operational efficiency and financial performance. A key measure reflecting both the value of services rendered and their reimbursement potential is the Relative Value Unit (RVU). Understanding how innovative medical technologies, like KUBTEC's MOZART® 3D Specimen Radiography System, can positively impact RVUs is essential for enhancing clinical outcomes, streamlining processes, and boosting revenue.

What are RVUs?

RVUs quantify the value of healthcare services in the United States, particularly under Medicare’s physician fee schedule. An RVU is composed of three main components:

1.    Work RVU (wRVU): Reflects the time, skill, and effort required by the provider to perform the service.

2.    Practice Expense RVU (peRVU): Accounts for overhead costs, such as staff salaries, equipment, and operational expenses.

3.    Malpractice RVU (mRVU): Covers the risk and cost of malpractice insurance associated with providing the service.

These components are combined to create a total RVU for each service. RVUs, when multiplied by a conversion factor (a dollar amount determined annually by Medicare), are used to calculate reimbursement rates.

What Factors Influence RVU Adoption and Use?

RVU adoption and use in healthcare are primarily influenced by Medicare, as it structures its Physician FeeSchedule around RVUs, setting a standard for valuing and reimbursing healthcare services. Many healthcare providers align their practices with Medicare’s RVU model to ensure compliance and optimize reimbursement, as Medicare is one of the largest insurers in the U.S. Additionally, Medicare's use of RVUs for determining service value has encouraged private insurers to adopt similar structures, creating consistency across the industry. This widespread adoption enables providers to benchmark productivity, manage operational costs, and support physician compensation models effectively.

How RVUs Impact Surgeons’ Daily Activities and Choices

For surgeons, Relative Value Units(RVUs) are more than productivity metrics—they influence how they allocate time, prioritize procedures, and measure success.

RVUs in Surgical Workflow

1.    Procedure Prioritization: Surgeries with higherRVU values are often prioritized, balancing patient care with institutional and personal financial goals.

2.    Efficiency Demands: Surgeons are incentivized to maximize case volume and efficiency, driving adoption of technologies that enhance productivity without compromising outcomes.

3.    Documentation: Accurate reporting is crucial to capture appropriate RVU values, ensuring reimbursement and reflecting performance metrics.

For many surgeons, RVUs are key to professional success, shaping compensation, performance evaluations, and career growth. However, balancing productivity with quality care remains a challenge.

How Can MOZART Enhance RVUs?

KUBTEC’s MOZART® 3D Specimen Radiography System offers real-time, high-resolution 3D specimen imaging during breast cancer surgeries, directly impacting RVUs by improving clinical accuracy, reducing operating times, and increasing procedural efficiency. Here’s how The MOZART System drives improvements across key RVU components:

1.    Reduced Operating Time: Through eliminating the need for specimen transfers to radiology, wait times for radiologist interpretation and communication back to the operating room, theMozart System  significantly reduces operating time. Two pilot single institution studies demonstrated both decreased OR time and decreased surgical time with the institution of the Mozart system. ^1,2

(Ref : 1. Kornfeld H, Muller L, et al. Thetemporal and financial benefit of intraoperative breast specimen imaging: A pilot study of the Kubtec Mozart. The Breast Journal).

(Ref 2. https://journals.lww.com/bgjr/fulltext/2023/10000/comparison_of_intra_operative_specimen_imaging_in.1.aspx)

2.    Fewer Repeat Surgeries: Through providing high resolution tomosynthetic, 3 dimensional intraoperative specimen radiography, the Mozart System enables surgeons to assess radiographic margins in real time.Surgeons can adjust their margin excision accordingly, enabling more targeted surgical accuracy and improving surgical efficacy.

Retrospective data confirms there is a statistically significant reduction in the positive margin rate with 3D intraoperative imaging versus 2D, with no difference in the total volume of breast tissue excised. A lower re-excision rate is independently associated with 3D tomosynthesis. ³

(Ref 3. Pertain N, Calvo C, et al. Difference is inRe-excision Rates for Breast-Conserving Surgery Using Intraperative 2D Versus3D Tomosynthesis Specimen Radiograph” Ann Surg Onc.)

While re-excision lumpectomies do generate RVUs, the office visits are longer than general post-operative visits and many of the services offered during the perioperative care bundle period are not reimbursed. This time would be better spent seeing new patients or performing other operations. Furthermore, decreased re-excision rates improve quality of care, patient satisfaction, and can lead to improved timeliness of administration of adjuvant therapies.

3.    Lower Overhead Costs: The pilot study mentioned above demonstrated a $284.62 cost saving per case once theMozart system was instituted ¹. Decreased cost is attributable to decreased staffing requirements with specimen transfer and decreased OR time.

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By optimizing operating room efficiency, reducing re-excision rates, reducing cost, and ultimately enhancing patient outcomes, utilization of The MOZART System can empower healthcare providers to increase their RVUs while delivering high-quality patient care. For healthcare organizations focused on achieving clinical and financial excellence, The MOZART System is an invaluable asset. Assuch, The MOZART System represents more than an innovation—it’s a pathway toachieving excellence in a metrics-driven healthcare landscape.

These claims have not been reviewed by FDA

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