CF not your only consideration -- watch RVUs

Why This Topic Matters

Practices need a way to estimate Medicare payment impact before final rates are known, especially when mid-year changes may affect cash flow and payer contracts. The article helps readers understand the broader reimbursement factors they should monitor without relying on a single assumption.

Article Sections

1. Medicare reimbursement factors to watch

   Introduces the two main elements affecting reimbursement planning and frames the issue for physician practices. It also notes that payment effects can vary by specialty and by code-level valuation changes.

2. Examples of RVU changes in commonly used codes

   Provides a comparison of selected office and procedure codes and shows how their relative value components changed between years. The section illustrates that some services may increase while others may decrease.

3. Budgeting implications for primary care

   Explains why primary care offices are expected to see limited overall impact from some RVU changes and shifts the focus to planning under fee schedule uncertainty. It also discusses how payer policies may mirror Medicare changes.

4. Steps for estimating payments under different scenarios

   Outlines general approaches for projecting Medicare fees using local fee schedules or CMS data. It also references using published conversion factors and geographic adjustments for budgeting purposes.

5. Medicare's revised 2008 figures and calculations

   Presents the key year-specific values and a general calculation framework for estimating adjusted Medicare fees. This section is intended to support scenario-based budgeting and locality-based payment estimation.

6. Resource

   Provides a CMS source for downloading RVU and geographic practice cost index files. The resource supports further fee schedule analysis and spreadsheet-based calculation.