title: Seeking the just price: constructing relative value scales and fee schedules.
abstract: Many conceptual issues underlie the current policy debate over how to reform the fee-for-service method of paying physicians, including the development of a relative value scale for physicians' services and the relationship between a relative value scale and a fee schedule. We consider the relationship between fees and costs and the criteria for judging whether a fee is appropriate or right and then propose a two-step process for constructing a relative value scale. A fee schedule based on a relative value scale is the most practical way to reform the current fee-for-service system and makes the most sense from both clinical and economic viewpoints.
mesh_terms: D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005245:Fee Schedules; D005251:Fees, Medical; D006295:Health Resources / Q000191:economics; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000191:economics; D006278:Medicare / Q000191:economics; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000191:economics; D014481:United States