2006 proposed fee schedule - American Society of Clinical Oncology

C. Components of the Fee Schedule Payment Amounts
To calculate the payment for every physician service,
the components of the fee schedule (physician work, PE, and
malpractice RVUs) are adjusted by a geographic practice cost
index (GPCI). The GPCIs reflect the relative costs of
physician work, practice expenses, and malpractice insurance
in an area compared to the national average costs for each
component.
Payments are converted to dollar amounts through the
application of a CF, which is calculated by the Office of
the Actuary and is updated annually for inflation.
The general formula for calculating the Medicare fee
schedule amount for a given service and fee schedule area
can be expressed as:
Payment = [(RVU work x GPCI work) + (RVU PE x GPCI PE)
+ (RVU malpractice x GPCI malpractice)] x CF.
D. Most Recent Changes to the Fee Schedule
In the November 15, 2004 PFS final rule (69 FR 66236),
we refined the resource-based PE RVUs and made other changes
to Medicare Part B payment policy. These policy changes
included--
● Supplemental survey data for PE;
● Updated GPCIs for physician work and PE;
● Updated malpractice RVUs;
22