Aligning Compensation with Education: Design and Implementation of the Educational Value Unit (EVU) System in an Academic Internal Medicine Department

Abstract

The authors report the development of a new metric for distributing university funds to support faculty efforts in education in the department of internal medicine at the University of Kansas School of Medicine. In 2003, a committee defined the educational value unit (EVU), which describes and measures the specific types of educational work done by faculty members, such as core education, clinical teaching, and administration of educational programs. The specific work profile of each faculty member was delineated. A dollar value was calculated for each 0.1 EVU. The metric was prospectively applied and a faculty survey was performed to evaluate the faculty’s perception of the metric. Application of the metric resulted in a decrease in university support for 34 faculty and an increase in funding for 23 faculty. Total realignment of funding was US$1.6 million, or an absolute value of US$29,072 ± 38,320.00 in average shift of university salary support per faculty member. Survey results showed that understanding of the purpose of university funding was enhanced, and that faculty members perceived a more equitable alignment of teaching effort with funding. The EVU metric resulted in a dramatic realignment of university funding for educational efforts in the department of internal medicine. The metric was easily understood, quickly implemented, and perceived to be fair by the faculty. By aligning specific salary support with faculty’s educational responsibilities, a foundation was created for applying mission-based incentive programs.