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medpundit |
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Thursday, May 03, 2007The growth in RVUs for physicians' work was greatest in cardiology (114%) and gastroenterology (72%). The total growth in RVUs was greatest in cardiology (99%) and dermatology (105%). ....In the first 10 years after the implementation of the resource-based relative-value scale, RVUs per Medicare beneficiary grew substantially. The leading sources of growth varied among service types and specialties. An understanding of these sources of growth can inform policies to control Medicare spending. Now what could the source of growth be? Procedures that improve heart attack survival? Screening procedures such as colonoscopies? Drugs that improve survival, but also require periodic doctor's visits to monitor for side effects? It's no coincidence that cardiology and gastroenterology were among the largest increases in spending. (Dermatology, I'm guessing, is due to treatment for skin cancer and pre-skin cancer.) Medicare spending will only be controlled when we honestly look at the bang we're getting for the buck. Will any politician, let alone a majority of them, have the courage to suggest that improving heart attack survival by 1.2% over six months is worth spending millions or billions of dollars? Or if screening everyone over the age of 65 for colon cancer with colonoscopies is worth the cost? Probably not. posted by Sydney on 5/03/2007 07:27:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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