An overview of the development and refinement of the Resource-Based Relative Value Scale. The foundation for reform of U.S. physician payment.
Responding to distortions in payment rates between services, policymakers in the United States have sought a systematic and rational foundation for determining physician fees. One such approach to paying physicians, the Resource-Based Relative Value Scale (RBRVS), determines fees by measuring the relative resource costs required to produce them. On January 1, 1992, the Medicare program implemented a new payment system for physician services based on the RBRVS. This article provides a brief history of the RBRVS and a summary of the methods and data used to derive it. This overview represents the culmination of 6 years of research by the Harvard RBRVS study team and provides a road map to the study's concepts and definitions. The overview also provides a context for the articles in this issue that describe five major studies undertaken since 1988. The study's overall results are presented in the last article of the series.
Hsiao
W C
WC
Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA.
Braun
P
P
Dunn
D L
DL
Becker
E R
ER
Yntema
D
D
Verrilli
D K
DK
Stamenovic
E
E
Chen
S P
SP
D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods; D005251:Fees, Medical; D006302:Health Services Research / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*; D016345:Medicare Part B / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016730:Program Development; D011907:Rate Setting and Review / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*; D012051:Reimbursement Mechanisms; D015895:Relative Value Scales; D014481:United States