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Radiology Contract — Sample Analysis
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ClauseLine · Contract Analysis · Radiology — Diagnostic
sample-radiology-contract.pdf
Moderate Risk
0 = physician-favorable · 100 = extreme risk
Physician Bottom Line
The salary is guaranteed. The productivity upside is not. This fictional contract pays $485,000 plus $4.50 for each work RVU above 11,500 per year. At the 11,399-work-RVU comparison scenario, the bonus is $0. At 13,000 work RVUs, the bonus is $6,750 and total compensation is $491,750.00. These are illustrations of the formula, not actual earnings.
Negotiate the threshold and rate together. At 11,399 work RVUs, lowering the threshold to 10,000 adds $6,295.50 with the current rate preserved. Raising only the bonus rate adds nothing while the 11,500 threshold remains. Combining a 10,000 threshold with a proposed $40 bonus factor adds $55,960.00 at that same workload. The $40 is a negotiation target, not a claimed market median for bonus rates.
The peer charts compare total salary plus earned bonus with all-in compensation per work RVU. The sample's all-in rate is $42.55 at 11,399 work RVUs. The $4.50 marginal bonus factor cannot be ranked against those whole-compensation benchmarks on its own.
The partnership track is also undefined: no timeline, buy-in formula, equity percentage, or decision criteria. Get those terms in writing before assigning a dollar value to partnership. Protect the compensation formula from unilateral changes, and challenge the 24-month, 30-mile restriction and nationwide teleradiology language. The detailed restrictions appear below.
Terms Working Against You
- At 11,399 work RVUs, the 11,500 threshold pays no bonus; at 13,000 work RVUs, 1,500 eligible units add only $6,750
- Partnership track undefined — no timeline, no buy-in formula, no criteria, no equity percentage in Section 8.1
- Non-compete runs 24 months and 30 miles, plus a separate ban on all teleradiology platforms operating in the United States — forecloses a growing segment of post-separation radiology work
- No night or weekend differential on call coverage — 25–50% premium is industry standard
- No subspecialty premium for neuro, breast, or IR reads despite higher wRVU values and technical complexity
Terms in Your Favor
- Guaranteed salary of $485,000 is $5,006 below the $490,006 median base-salary benchmark; base salary and total compensation are different comparisons
- Private group structure with partnership track creates long-term equity upside if track is defined in writing
- Quarterly bonus reconciliation in arrears with no advance draws — eliminates the year-end clawback exposure common in wRVU advance structures
Income Snapshot
Compensation and take-home estimates alongside a separately labeled gross revenue model. A production scenario is not a statement of actual annual earnings.
Modeled gross revenue
Not calculated
A supported production basis is needed to calculate this revenue scenario.
Your estimated take-home
$339,743 – $349,751
Mid-range: $339,743
Gross $485,000 – $499,288 minus applicable taxes and physician-paid expenses.
Gross professional revenue
Not calculated
A supported production basis is needed to calculate professional-fee revenue.
Gross facility revenue
N/A
Hospital facility-fee math is currently scoped to emergency medicine.
Estimated take-home ranges from $339,743 to $349,751, with a midpoint of $339,743, after estimated taxes and the expense assumptions shown below. Company-paid malpractice is not deducted.
Compensation Analysis
HIGHYour $/wRVU vs the market
Your effective rate of $42.55/wRVU sits at the 24th percentile for this specialty. The shaded band is the national middle 50% (P25–P75).
Comparison scenario: 11,399 work RVUs/year. The effective rate uses the contract formula at this volume; this is not a statement of actual personal production.
How much of the peer rate you receive
Each line treats the peer benchmark as 100%. The red marker is your effective rate.
Comparison scenario: 11,399 work RVUs/year. The effective rate uses the contract formula at this volume; this is not a statement of actual personal production.
The pay gap at three production levels
Each line compares pay under your contract formula with pay at the specialty-median rate for the same production. The distance between the dots shows the modeled difference.
8,952 wRVUsP25 production
- Your formula
- $485,000
- Peer benchmark
- $493,345
$8,345 gap
11,399 wRVUsmedian production
- Your formula
- $485,000
- Peer benchmark
- $628,199
$143,199 gap
14,675 wRVUsP75 production
- Your formula
- $499,288
- Peer benchmark
- $808,739
$309,451 gap
Three-year cumulative gap
At median peer production, the rate gap totals $429,597 over three years if the formula is unchanged.
Model
Base Salary + wRVU Bonus
Base Rate
$485,000 / year
Shift differentials: No night or weekend differential — call reads compensated at standard wRVU rate
wRVU Rate vs Benchmark
The stated contract productivity factor is $4.50 per work RVU; it is not necessarily the all-in compensation rate. At 11,399 work RVUs (specialty-median production scenario, not actual or contract-projected earnings), total modeled compensation of $485,000 equals $42.55 per work RVU (24th percentile). The all-in comparison benchmarks are P25 $44.42, median $55.11, and P75 $67.96 per work RVU. A marginal bonus or additive productivity factor must not be compared on its own with those whole-compensation rates.
Multiplier: $4.50/wRVU · work RVU
Sign-on Bonus
$25,000
Sign-on repayment decreases pro rata over 24 months: $12,500 remaining at 12 months, $6,250 at 18 months, and $0 after 24 months
CME Coverage
$3,500/year CME allowance, 5 CME days — in line with professional-society guidance
Productivity Bonus
$4.50/wRVU on all wRVUs above 11,500 annually (quarterly reconciliation)
Net Take-Home
Gross (P25 – P75)
$485,000 – $499,288
Mid: $485,000
Classification
W-2
Drives the expense math
Estimated take-home
$339,743 – $349,751
Mid: $339,743
| Expense line | Annual range | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Estimated taxes (federal + payroll + state) | $145,258 – $149,537 | W-2: federal + employee payroll + IL (30% effective). |
Assumptions
- Production scenarios anchored to the 2025 national diagnostic radiology wRVU percentiles: 8,952 (P25), 11,399 (P50), 14,675 (P75)
- No bonus is earned at P25 or median production — the 11,500-unit threshold sits above the P50 of 11,399 wRVUs; the high scenario includes $14,288 in bonus at P75 production
- Combined 30% effective tax rate: 25% federal + employee payroll baseline plus the 4.95% Illinois flat state rate
Value Generated vs Your Pay
A supported compensation and revenue basis is needed before this comparison can be shown.
Missing Protections
Written partnership track with defined timeline, criteria, and buy-in formula
Section 8.1 references partnership but commits to nothing. In a private radiology group, partnership is the primary wealth-building event — buy-in, equity distributions, and profit-sharing typically represent $200,000–$500,000+ in cumulative value. A verbal partnership track is not an enforceable obligation.
"Add an exhibit to the contract specifying: (a) the partnership timeline — 24–36 months from start date; (b) the criteria — productivity, quality, collegial assessment; (c) the buy-in formula — a defined multiple of trailing 12-month distributions; and (d) the equity percentage — not less than an equal per-partner share."
Night and weekend read differential
After-hours and weekend reads involve after-hours acuity, call-back disruption, and time-opportunity cost. Industry standard in private radiology is a 25–50% per-read premium or flat per-shift differential. Without this language, complex trauma CTs read at 2 AM compensate at the same rate as routine chest X-rays read at 9 AM.
"Add a 30% differential for all reads initiated between 10:00 PM and 7:00 AM and on weekends, or a flat $200/shift premium for overnight coverage."
Subspecialty read premium for neuro, breast, and IR
Subspecialty reads carry higher wRVU values per case and command premium rates in market contracts because of training requirements and billing complexity. Treating all reads identically understates the value delivered for subspecialty work.
"Add a 15% premium on neuro, breast, and IR wRVUs above standard diagnostic reads, or a separate subspecialty fee schedule applied to board-eligible subspecialty cases."
Turnaround time metric with case-complexity adjustment
Section 9.3 ties compensation to turnaround time without case-mix adjustment. A single turnaround metric that treats multi-organ trauma CT the same as a routine chest X-ray creates perverse incentives to prioritize volume over complex reads.
"Tier the turnaround targets by modality and complexity: routine X-ray ≤ 4 hours, CT standard ≤ 2 hours, CT/MRI cross-sectional complex ≤ 4 hours, IR procedures documented separately."
Clause Analysis
Contract term
Physician shall receive $4.50 per qualifying work RVU generated above the annual threshold of 11,500 wRVUs.
Only units above 11,500 earn the $4.50 bonus. At 11,399 work RVUs, the formula pays the $485,000 salary and no bonus. At 13,000 work RVUs, the 1,500 eligible units produce $6,750, for $491,750 total pay. The incentive factor is not the all-in compensation rate, so comparing $4.50 directly with a whole-compensation benchmark does not establish a market percentile or lost earnings.
Preserve the $485,000 salary and negotiate both inputs: a 10,000 threshold and a proposed $40 bonus factor. At 11,399 work RVUs, the combined change adds $55,960.00; increasing the rate alone adds $0 at that volume. At the separate 13,000-work-RVU illustration, the combined change adds $113,250.00. These are alternative workload scenarios, not additive gains or guaranteed outcomes.
Contract term
Physician shall be considered for partnership in Lakeshore Radiology Group upon demonstrating satisfactory performance during the employed period, subject to partnership approval.
"Considered for partnership" is not a commitment — it is an invitation to be evaluated by criteria that are not defined, on a timeline that is not specified, for equity that is not quantified. Every element of the partnership track — timeline, buy-in amount, criteria, vote threshold, equity share — is discretionary under this language. A physician who performs well for three years can be denied partnership with no contractual remedy.
Add a partnership exhibit specifying: (a) timeline of 24–36 months, (b) criteria defined and objective (productivity ≥ P50, quality metrics met, collegial assessment passed), (c) buy-in formula tied to a multiple of trailing distributions with a cap, (d) equity percentage of not less than equal per-partner share. Without a written exhibit, walk away from any partnership promise.
Contract term
The Group may modify wRVU compensation rates and annual thresholds by majority vote of the partnership, with sixty (60) days written notice to employed physicians.
The $4.50 marginal rate and the 11,500-unit threshold are not fixed terms — the partnership can change both on 60 days notice, and employed physicians have no vote. Any rate improvement negotiated at signing can be revised away during the employed period, before the physician reaches a partnership vote. This provision converts the productivity plan from a contractual term into a policy the employer controls.
Lock the negotiated economics for the employed period: add language that the marginal wRVU rate may not be reduced, and the annual threshold may not be raised, before the first partnership vote date without the physician's written consent.
Contract term
Physician shall participate in after-hours and weekend call coverage as part of the standard rotation. Compensation for call coverage is included in the base compensation structure.
"Included in base compensation" is the contractual language for zero differential. Industry standard for radiology night and weekend reads — particularly for cross-sectional and trauma cases — is a 25–50% per-read premium or flat shift differential. The absence of a differential means a Saturday overnight trauma read rotation generates the same compensation as a Tuesday routine read session, despite materially different acuity and lifestyle impact.
Add a 30% differential for reads between 10:00 PM and 7:00 AM and on weekends/holidays, or a flat $200/shift premium for overnight or holiday coverage. Frame as standard — professional-society practice economics data supports this structure.
Contract term
Employer shall provide claims-made professional liability insurance during employment. Extended reporting period coverage is Physician's responsibility upon separation.
Illinois diagnostic radiology tail premiums typically run $15,000–$30,000 for general diagnostic reads; higher for interventional. The employer shifts this cost entirely to the physician. Combined with the sign-on clawback, the effective out-of-pocket cost to leave this contract in the first two years includes the clawback balance plus the full tail premium.
Request employer-funded tail on any separation. If employer will not provide full tail, negotiate a tail allowance of $20,000 escrowed at hire and vesting pro-rata over 3 years.
Contract term
Either party may terminate this Agreement upon 90 days written notice. All rights to partnership consideration under this Agreement shall terminate immediately upon separation for any reason.
90 days is appropriate for radiology. The partnership forfeiture clause is the more significant issue: separation for any reason — including employer-initiated termination without cause — forfeits all partnership rights. A physician who performs well for 30 months and is then terminated without cause loses any claim to the partnership track they were promised.
Add a survival clause: if employer terminates without cause after the physician has been employed for 18+ months, the physician retains a right to purchase a proportional equity interest at the defined buy-in formula. This protects the physician in the termination-during-the-track-period scenario.
Contract term
Physician shall maintain average turnaround time of 60 minutes for all studies. Failure to meet turnaround targets may result in compensation adjustment.
A single 60-minute turnaround target applied to all studies creates a structural conflict with thorough complex reads. A multi-organ trauma CT, a complex neuroimaging case, or an interventional procedure cannot responsibly be completed in 60 minutes with the documentation required. This standard will penalize radiologists who prioritize complex cases and could indirectly reduce quality.
Request tiered turnaround targets by modality: routine X-ray 45 minutes, standard CT 60 minutes, complex cross-sectional CT/MRI 90 minutes, IR procedures excluded from turnaround metrics entirely.
Non-Compete
HIGHExists
Yes
Radius
30 miles
Duration
24 months
Governing State
Illinois
Enforceability
Moderately Enforceable
Landmark cases: Prairie Rheumatology Associates, S.C. v. Francis (2014, Illinois Appellate Court, Third District): Physician's non-compete unenforceable for inadequate consideration where she resigned after roughly 19 months, short of the two-year continued-employment threshold and with little additional benefit conferred.
Illinois enforces reasonable physician non-competes (Enforceable — common-law reasonableness). Treat this as binding and negotiate the scope down now. Your 30-mile radius exceeds what Illinois courts typically uphold (2–25 miles) — push it into that range. Governing law: 820 ILCS 90 (Illinois Freedom to Work Act).
Malpractice Insurance
MODERATEType
claims-made
Coverage Limits
$1,000,000 per occurrence / $3,000,000 aggregate
Tail Coverage
Not provided — physician responsibility on separation
Tail Cost Estimate
$15,000–$30,000 (Illinois diagnostic radiology, major carriers, 2025 pricing)
Request employer-funded tail. Also negotiate a consent-to-settle clause protecting NPDB record — particularly important given the partnership track context.
Termination Provisions
MODERATEWithout-Cause Notice
90 days written notice by either party
With-Cause Provisions
Immediate termination for: (1) loss of medical license, (2) DEA registration suspension, (3) felony conviction, (4) material breach not cured within 10 days, (5) exclusion from federal healthcare programs, (6) loss of hospital radiology privileges.
Physician Rights
90 days written notice to terminate without cause. No physician right to terminate for cause against employer. Partnership forfeiture on any separation — including employer-initiated without cause — is the most punitive element of the termination provisions.
Add a provision that partnership rights survive employer-initiated termination without cause after 18 months of employment. Also add a physician right to terminate immediately for cause if employer fails to pay compensation within 15 days of the due date.
Benefits & Leave
LOWHealth Insurance
Group health plan available — employee contribution deducted from pay; employer contribution not specified
CME
$3,500/year CME allowance and 5 paid CME days — consistent with the professional-society recommended range
PTO
20 days PTO per year — below the median vacation allotment of 180 hours (22.5 days) in the 2025 national radiology data; does not include CME days
Retirement
Profit-sharing 401(k) available at partnership; 401(k) for employed physicians with employer match not specified
Disability
Short-term disability provided; long-term disability not addressed
Malpractice
Claims-made coverage provided during employment; tail not included (see Malpractice section)
Negotiation Strategy
The partnership track is the highest-value item in any private radiology group contract — it must be defined in writing before signing. The marginal wRVU rate and the non-compete scope are the two other material issues. Sequence: (1) partnership exhibit — this is a deal condition, not a negotiating ask; (2) wRVU rate increase or threshold reduction; (3) teleradiology language removal and geographic radius reduction; (4) night/weekend differential. The teleradiology platform ban reaches every U.S. market — its removal is a scope-narrowing ask the group can grant without touching its local referral protection.
Opening Move
"I am interested in this position and the partnership potential, but Section 8.1 does not give me enough specificity to evaluate the real value of the track. Before I can finalize any terms, I need a partnership exhibit that specifies the timeline, criteria, and buy-in formula. I am happy to discuss the employment terms in parallel, but the partnership definition is a condition of my signing."
Key Principles
- Partnership definition is a condition, not an ask. Do not accept "we will work it out" — get it in writing or walk.
- Bring the complete formula: salary plus earned bonus. Compare all-in compensation with all-in benchmarks, then quantify a proposed bonus-rate or threshold change at the same workload. Do not call a marginal bonus factor an all-in market rate.
- The teleradiology platform ban reaches every U.S. market. Frame its removal as scope-narrowing, and anchor the geographic ask to the 2–25 mile range Illinois courts have upheld (see the Non-Compete section).
- Night/weekend differential is widely granted in private radiology. Frame as standard practice.
- Do not let the sign-on clawback and tail cost compound your exit exposure — negotiate tail funding early.
Sequencing
- 1Make partnership exhibit a pre-signature condition — communicate this in writing before the formal counter-proposal
- 2Submit a written counter-proposal on threshold and bonus factor together, preserving the $485,000 salary and modeling both changes at the same production level
- 3Address the non-compete in the third phase — removal of the teleradiology platform language plus a radius reduction into the 2–25 mile range Illinois courts have upheld
- 4Bundle night/weekend differential and subspecialty premium as final redline additions
- 5Tail funding is the last financial item — often granted by private groups that want to retain the physician beyond year 2
Negotiation Priorities
Financial Impact
Partnership equity distributions and profit-sharing typically add $100,000+ per year over employed compensation once admitted — $300,000+ over the first 3 partnership years, and $200,000–$500,000 in cumulative career value. An undefined track is worth $0 contractually.
Current Terms
"Consideration for partnership" with no timeline, criteria, buy-in, or equity specification
The Ask
Partnership exhibit: 24–36 months, defined criteria, buy-in formula at trailing distribution multiple, equal per-partner equity share
Fallback
If the full exhibit is refused at signing, a binding addendum committing to a partnership vote no later than 36 months from start date, with the buy-in defined as a capped multiple of trailing 12-month distributions and equity of not less than an equal per-partner share
Walk-Away Point
Walk away if partnership is not defined in a written exhibit. A verbal promise on partnership is not enforceable.
Say this
“Section 8.1 offers consideration for partnership but no timeline, no criteria, no buy-in formula, and no equity percentage. At a private radiology group, partnership represents $200,000–$500,000 in cumulative value, and I need that defined before I sign. I am asking for a partnership exhibit specifying a 24–36 month timeline, objective criteria, a buy-in formula tied to trailing 12-month distributions, and an equal per-partner equity share. I am glad to negotiate the employment terms in parallel, but the written exhibit is a condition of my signature.”
Financial Impact
The teleradiology ban forecloses roughly $100,000+/year in post-separation teleradiology income — $200,000+ over the 24-month restriction, with the full exposure falling inside any 3-year horizon.
Current Terms
30-mile radius plus a ban on all teleradiology platforms operating in the United States, for 24 months
The Ask
Teleradiology platform language removed entirely; geographic radius reduced into the 2–25 mile range Illinois courts have upheld
Fallback
If full removal is refused, replace the platform ban with a narrow restriction limited to reads on patient populations with an active encounter at a Lakeshore-affiliated facility, and reduce the geographic radius from 30 to 20 miles
Walk-Away Point
Teleradiology platform language must be removed, and the geographic radius must come down into the 2–25 mile range Illinois courts have upheld.
Say this
“The 24-month ban on every teleradiology platform operating in the United States reaches far beyond the group's local referral market, and the 30-mile radius sits above the 2–25 mile range Illinois courts have typically upheld. At $500–$700 per teleradiology shift, the platform ban forecloses more than $100,000 a year in post-separation income. I am asking for the teleradiology platform language to be removed and the radius reduced to 20 miles — the group's local referral relationships are fully protected at that scope.”
Financial Impact
At 13,000 work RVUs, changing only $4.50 to $40 above the existing 11,500 threshold adds $53,250.00 annually, or $159,750.00 over three identical years. Combining the $40 factor with a 10,000 threshold adds $113,250.00 annually at that volume. At 11,399 work RVUs, rate-only adds $0 and the combined change adds $55,960.00. The combined change already includes the rate change; do not add the two. These are modeled negotiation improvements, not verified lost earnings.
Current Terms
$4.50/wRVU above 11,500 wRVUs annually
The Ask
Proposed $40 bonus factor above a 10,000-work-RVU threshold; preserve the $485,000 salary
Fallback
$25/wRVU above the threshold combined with lowering the threshold from 11,500 to 10,000 wRVUs, so the higher rate applies to more of the actual production
Walk-Away Point
Do not accept a rate-only concession without checking whether the threshold lets it pay at the workload you expect. Set a minimum acceptable total-compensation outcome before agreeing.
Say this
“At 11,399 work RVUs, this formula pays no productivity bonus. I am asking to preserve the $485,000 salary, reduce the threshold to 10,000, and set the bonus factor at $40. That combination adds $55,960.00 at the same illustrative workload. Please also confirm the credited production and protect these terms from unilateral changes.”
Financial Impact
At 1 overnight shift per week, a $200/shift differential adds $10,400/year — $31,200 over 3 years. A 30% read premium on overnight cross-sectional reads adds a similar or higher figure depending on volume.
Current Terms
Night and weekend reads included in base compensation — no differential
The Ask
30% differential on reads between 10:00 PM and 7:00 AM and on weekends, or $200/shift flat
Fallback
A 25% per-read differential on overnight reads, or a flat $200/shift premium limited to overnight coverage with weekend reads revisited at the next annual rate review
Walk-Away Point
$150/shift minimum, or 20% per-read differential. Below this, overnight coverage is significantly undercompensated.
Say this
“This contract folds night and weekend coverage into base pay with no differential. I am asking for a 30% differential on reads between 10:00 PM and 7:00 AM and on weekends, or a flat $200 per shift. At 52 overnight shifts per year, the flat differential adds $10,400. Please define which shifts qualify and keep this payment separate from the productivity threshold.”
Financial Impact
One-time $15,000–$30,000 tail liability at exit. Combined with the sign-on clawback, departure within the first 3 years can cost $25,000–$55,000 out of pocket.
Current Terms
Physician responsible for all tail costs on separation
The Ask
Employer provides tail coverage on any separation, or $20,000 tail allowance vesting over 3 years
Fallback
A $20,000 tail allowance escrowed at hire and vesting pro-rata over 3 years, or employer-funded tail triggered on any employer-initiated termination without cause
Walk-Away Point
$20,000 escrowed tail allowance, vesting over 3 years minimum.
Say this
“Tail on an Illinois diagnostic radiology claims-made policy runs $15,000 to $30,000, and as written that entire cost falls on me at separation. Combined with the sign-on clawback, an early exit could cost $25,000 to $55,000 out of pocket. I am asking the group to fund tail coverage on any separation, or alternatively to escrow a $20,000 tail allowance vesting pro-rata over 3 years.”
Generate Counter-Proposal
What this section does
- Generates a full counter-proposal letter in your chosen tone (warm or firm), addressed to the employer, citing specific specialty benchmarks and your negotiation priorities.
- Lets you select which priorities to include, and supports both new-offer and renegotiation letter types with an optional contract start date.
- Output is editable, copyable, and prints to PDF alongside the report — ready to send, or revise it first.
Unlimited Q&A
Example question
Unlimited Q&A — ask follow-up questions about your analysis
Ask about any clause, negotiate strategy, what specific language to request, or what a term means in practice. Answers are grounded in your actual contract text and benchmarks for your specialty. Yours forever — come back any time.
Radiology analyzer
Run your own Radiology contract through this.
Apply the same report structure to your specific agreement: compensation mechanics, contract-grounded findings, negotiation priorities, and unlimited follow-up Q&A.
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