Median annual physician productivity runs from 4,964 work relative value units in psychiatry to 12,500 in radiology, according to an Oct. 21 report from Marit.
The analysis drew on 4,456 salary reports on Marit’s platform with wRVU detail as of Oct. 2, covering 26 specialties with at least 30 reports each.
Primary care, psychiatry and office-based subspecialties cluster between about 5,000 and 6,600 wRVUs a year. Procedural and imaging specialties range from 7,500 to 12,500. In radiology, a physician at the 75th percentile logs 43% more wRVUs than one at the 25th.
Here is the median annual wRVU volume by specialty:
- Radiology: 12,500
- Radiation oncology: 11,270
- Cardiology: 10,500
- Dermatology: 10,500
- Neurosurgery: 10,400
- Orthopedic surgery: 10,000
- Ophthalmology: 9,784
- Anesthesiology: 9,400
- Gastroenterology: 9,000
- Urology: 9,000
- Plastic surgery: 8,800
- Otolaryngology: 8,300
- General surgery: 8,000
- Pulmonology: 7,800
- Obstetrics and gynecology: 7,500
- Podiatry: 6,600
- Endocrinology: 6,000
- Family medicine: 6,000
- Internal medicine: 6,000
- Physical medicine and rehabilitation: 6,000
- Hematology oncology: 5,658
- Neurology: 5,500
- Infectious disease: 5,460
- Rheumatology: 5,150
- Pediatrics: 5,000
- Psychiatry: 4,964
Volume and median pay per wRVU move together only slightly, with a correlation of 0.15, according to Marit. Orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, plastic surgery, gastroenterology and urology rank near the top on both, while family medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine and endocrinology rank near the bottom.
Flat Medicare rates add pressure on physicians to raise volume. The Medicare conversion factor fell five years in a row, from $36.09 in 2020 to $32.35 in 2025. It rose to $33.40 for 2026, helped by a one-time 2.5% increase from Congress that expires at the end of 2026. Adjusted for practice cost inflation, Medicare physician payment fell 33% from 2001 to 2025, according to the AMA.
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