Underrepresentation of Pediatric Operations in the Relative Value Unit Updating Process

Background: The Relative Value Unit (RVU) system was designed and implemented by Medicare to standardize physician payments for a given service. Because Medicare primarily cares for older adults, RVU assignments and updates may not consider pediatric-specific procedures, despite the fact that private insurers and Medicaid often base their payments on these RVU valuations.Methods: The CPT codes of index pediatric operations were retrieved from the ACGME. We categorized these procedures into "Peds-specific" (eg, Ladd Procedure) versus those that could be performed in both children and adults, or "Non-specific" (eg, fundoplication).

Source: Journal of Pediatric Surgery - February 22, 2021 Category: Surgery Authors: Roxanne L. Massoumi, Christopher P. Childers, Steven L. Lee Source Type: research