Productivity and its relationship to  compensation has become a significant issue for transplant physicians. Productivity has been assessed using a variety of approaches, non of which is ideal. In general, transplant physicians do not feel the scope and intensity of the services they provide are appreciated and sufficiently rewarded.

Last year, the AST developed a survey aimed at understanding how transplant physician productivity is measured and determining the extent to which benchmarking has been incorporated into the performance review process. The survey results showed a general level of concern about RVUs among transplant physicians; however, the quantitative data requested in the survey could not easily be answered by most members. In addition, the response rate to the survey among some subspecialties was so low that it made the results un-interpretable.

The AST has decided to proceed with a separate survey aimed at Division Directors of each medical subspecialty or the practice manager for private practice groups to obtain specific RVU targets and data about the actual RVUs achieved within subspecialties. Based on the information received, a follow-up survey may be developed for the membership that is focused on more subjective data about perceptions related to productivity and compensation.

If the response rate achieves the target and the data reported are sufficient, the results of the survey will be shared with the membership.