This shawdowy group of physicians have a huge say in how doctors get paid. Look at the work they’ve done so far:
In 2008, the total value (unadjusted for budget neutrality or geography) for a 99214 is 2.53 RVUs. For a left heart catheterization (code 93510), the value is 40.54 RVUs, the bulk of which – 33.61 RVUs – is related to practice expenses. A family physician would have to do approximately 16 99214s to generate the same RVUs (and thus comparable Medicare income) as a cardiologist doing one 93510. Put another way, a cardiologist doing five 93510s would generate RVUs and Medicare income comparable to approximately 80 99214s. The typical family physician provides approximately 84 office visits a week1, most of which are likely lower levels of service than 99214.
Related posts:
- Relative value units, and how the RVU payment system doesn’t allow doctors to practice good medicine
- A single-payer compromise?
- Another bonus in the Medicare bill?
- Primary care-specialty income gap: It’s worse than we think
- What’s next, PA assistants?
- Delayed government reimbursements
- Administrative costs and single-payer
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Give me a break. The AAFP has known about this for years and kept quiet about what is probably the biggest factor in the decline of interest in primary care. They are only talking about it after a couple of bloggers finally exposed the RUC to the rank and file of our profession. Why are we sending our dues money to professional organizations which do very little to enhance our profession?
FPs should definitely abandon the aafp STAT! as they have done to their constituents over the last decade.
As the dinosaurs retire, the more informed & web-savvy younger generation of doctors should be more discriminating about where they send random checks to invisible organizations.
the same can be said about the AMA, ACP, and ABIM.
then once we start showing everyone we are capable of trimming off the excess fat (acp, abim, hospitals, dme companies, etc.) maybe interested doctors really CAN unionize for better conditions in office-based practices.
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