Committees Physicians bill their services using procedure codes developed by a seventeen-member committee known as the CPT Editorial Panel. The AMA nominates eleven of the members while the remaining seats are nominated by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, the Health Insurance Association of America, CMS, and the American Hospital Association. The CPT Committee issues new codes twice each year. A separate committee, the Specialty Society<unk><unk><unk>  Update Committee (RUC), meets three times a year to set new<unk> s, determines the<unk><unk>  Units (RVUs) for each new code, and revalues all existing codes at least once every five years. The RUC has 29 members, 23 of whom are appointed by major national medical societies. The six remaining seats are held by the Chair (an AMA appointee), an AMA representative, a representative from the CPT Editorial Panel, a representative from the American Osteopathic Association, a representative from the Health Care Professions Advisory Committee and a representative from the Practice Expense Review Committee. Anyone who attends its meetings must sign a confidentiality agreement. Price setting The<unk>  for each CPT code is determined using three separate factors: physician work, practice expense, and malpractice expense. The average<unk>  weights of these are: physician work (52%), practice expense (44%), malpractice expense (4%). A method to determine the physician work<unk>  was the primary contribution made by the Hsiao study. The RUC examines each new code to determine a<unk><unk>  by comparing the physician work of the new code to the physician work involved in existing codes. The practice expense, determined by the Practice Expense Review Committee, consists of the direct expenses related to supplies and non-physician labor used in providing the service, and the pro rata cost of the equipment used. In addition, there is an amount included for the indirect expenses. In the development of the<unk> , the physician work (including the physician's time, mental effort, technical skill, judgment, stress and an amortization of the physician's education), the practice expense and the malpractice expense are factored into the result. The calculation of the fee includes a geographic adjustment. The<unk>  does not include adjustments for outcomes, quality of service, severity, or demand.
Resource-based relative value scale
Consensus error grid
Geographic pricing cost index
Community rating
Public utility model
Relative index of inequality
Emerging Themes in Epidemiology
Enterprise master patient index