New England Journal of Medicine · 2007 · 51 citations · 4 references
Health ProfessionsHealth AdministrationHealth Services AdministrationHealth EconomicsHealthcare EconomicsMedicare PolicyFee-for-service PaymentHealthcare BudgetingHealthcare Cost AnalysisHealthcare PricingPhysician EconomicsProvider Payment PolicyFee Schedule UpdatesMedical Fee SchedulesMedicare Fee ScheduleMedicare Physician Fee SchedulePaymentPhysician Payment SystemsResource-based Relative Value ScaleSustainable Growth Rate
What garners attention when it comes to Medicare's payment rates for physicians is the annual drama over possible 11th-hour congressional intervention to prevent cuts under the sustainable growth rate formula. But behind the scenes, Medicare policymakers have been focusing on another aspect of the periodic adjustments: the updating of the relative values in the physician fee schedule and the accuracy of the data on which it relies. Since 1992, Medicare has paid physicians through a fee schedule according to a resource-based relative-value scale (RBRVS). This approach was intended to address distortions produced by basing payments on prevailing charges, which had . . .
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