title: Using cost accounting in a medical group practice. An application using the resource-based relative value scale.
abstract: With the presence of managed care increasing in our health care environment, today's practice administrator needs a method to determine whether the negotiated fee schedule, capitation rate, etc., is adequate. The only true method to make this determination is to undertake a cost study of physician activity. However, this approach could be tedious, cumbersome and beyond the resources of the practice. The author demonstrates a method to approximate the cost of a physician's activity by identifying the cost of a relative value. The relative value scale used is the resource-based relative value scale (RBRVS). The article also proposes other applications: comparative analysis, allocation of capitation payments and fee schedule development.
authors.affiliation: Michigan Ear Institute, Farmington Hills, MI 48334, USA.
authors.forename: M F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Berlin
mesh_terms: D000066:Accounting / Q000379:methods* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003361:Cost Allocation / Q000379:methods; D003625:Data Collection; D005245:Fee Schedules; D006123:Group Practice / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008329:Managed Care Programs; D010934:Planning Techniques; D015895:Relative Value Scales; D014481:United States