What question did this study set out to answer?

The aim is to create a Resource-Based Relative Value Scale to establish physician payment rates.

August 14, 1987JAMA67 citations

The Resource-Based Relative Value Scale

Key Points

The aim is to create a Resource-Based Relative Value Scale to establish physician payment rates.
National survey to gather data on physician service times and intensity.
Consensus panel to evaluate agreement on RBRVS use among stakeholders.
Involvement of medical professionals, payers, and consumers in the consensus phase.
Expected results to be published by summer 1988.
RBRVS to combine time, intensity, practice costs, and training into nonmonetary units.
Identification of areas of agreement and disagreement on RBRVS application for payment policy.

Abstract

This article describes the design and methods of a study currently under way to develop a Resource-Based Relative Value Scale (RBRVS); an alternative basis for establishing the payment rate for the services and procedures (S/Ps) of physicians in medical and surgical specialties. Physician resource inputs to be measured include (1) S/P time, (2) pre-S/P and post-S/P times, (3) intensity, (4) practice costs, including malpractice premiums, and (5) the cost of specialty training. These five factors will be combined to produce an RBRVS denominated in nonmonetary units. In the initial phase of the study, data on time and intensity will be obtained through a national survey of physicians who perform these S/Ps. In the second, consensus phase of the project, the investigators will convene a panel of representatives of the medical profession, third-party payers, consumers, and other interested parties to examine areas of agreement and disagreement as to how an RBRVS should be used for policy purposes. The final results of this study are expected by the summer of 1988. (JAMA1987;258:799-802)

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