title: Physician payment reform: how will medical specialties fare under the new Medicare fee schedule?
abstract: In 1989, the federal government legislated a major overhaul of the Medicare payment system for physician services, to be implemented beginning in January 1992. Under the new plan, payments will be set according to a national fee schedule based primarily on a "resource-based relative value scale." This article summarizes the development of the new payment system and explores the likely impact of its implementation on medical and surgical specialties.
authors: Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA.
authors: E R
authors: ER
authors: Becker
authors: E K
authors: EK
authors: Adams
authors: N S
authors: NS
authors: Fleming
mesh_terms: D004470:Economics, Medical; D005245:Fee Schedules; D016345:Medicare Part B / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011907:Rate Setting and Review; D015895:Relative Value Scales; D013038:Specialization; D014481:United States