HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Purchase Article View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Related articles in AJPH Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Becker, E R Articles by Hsiao, W C Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Becker, E R Articles by Hsiao, W C

Refinement and expansion of the Harvard Resource-Based Relative Value Scale: the second phase.

E R Becker, D Dunn, P Braun and W C Hsiao

Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115.

The Harvard resource-based relative value scale (RBRVS) for physician services has assumed a critical role in physician payment reform. We have demonstrated that the relative resource costs of providing physician services can be defined and measured in a rational and systematic way and that the results are reliable and valid. Consequently, the RBRVS is a viable basis for national payment policy and could be used for establishing a national fee schedule for physician services or to identify "mispriced" physician procedures. Since the release of the final report of the first phase of the Harvard RBRVS study in September of 1988, there has been extensive review, discussion, and criticism of the RBRVS. Dr. Laurence F. McMahon, Jr., in the accompanying article, provides a further critique of our research. In this paper, we review the RBRVS study and results and respond to the major criticisms that have been raised by Dr. McMahon and others. We then describe the tasks we are currently undertaking to expand and validate our research and address the important criticisms and limitations.

Related articles in AJPH:

A critique of the Harvard Resource-Based Relative Value Scale.

L F McMahon, Jr
AJPH 1990 80: 793-798. [Abstract]  

Designing fee schedules by formulae, politics, and negotiations.

W A Glaser
AJPH 1990 80: 804-809. [Abstract]  

This article has been cited by other articles:

				K. J. Jenkins, K. Gauvreau, J. W. Newburger, L. B. Kyn, L. I. Iezzoni, and J. E. Mayer Validation of relative value scale for congenital heart operations Ann. Thorac. Surg., September 1, 1998; 66(3): 860 - 869. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]