Adopting the RBRVS Methodology for the California Workers’ Compensation Physician Fee Schedule: First Report
May 2008
California Division of Workers' Compensation
The Lewin Group was commissioned by the California Division of Workers' Compensation to evaluate the impact of switching from the current physician fee schedule to a physician fee schedule based on the Resource-Based Relative Value Scale (RBRVS) system. The current physician fee schedule requires physicians and selected health care providers to use codes and descriptors of the 1997 edition of the American Medical Association's Current Procedural Terminology to bill for their services while the RBRVS-based system bases payments for medical treatment on the resources used to provide services. The Lewin Group study reports on the impact of changing to an RBRVS-based fee schedule by estimating payments under both the current physician fee schedule and an RBRVS-based system for the same set of services.