A coded listing of physician or other professional services using units which indicate the relative value of the various services they perform: taking into account the time, skill and overhead cost required for each service; but not usually considering the relative cost-effectiveness of the services, the relative need or demand for them, or their importance to people’s health. The units in this scale are based on median charges by physicians. Appropriate conversion factors are used to translate the abstract units in the scale to dollar fees for each service. Given individual and local variations in practice, the relative value scale can be used voluntarily as a guide to ph3″sicians in establishing fees for services, and as a guide for insurance carriers and government agencies in determining appropriate reimbursement (e.g., use of relative value scales under Medicare where there is no customary or prevailing charge for a covered service) . An example is the scale prepared and revised periodically by the California Medical Association which includes independent scales for medicine, anesthesia, surgery, radiology and pathology. Relative value scales can contain biases favoring certain specialties (such as surgery) or types of services ”highly technical or specialized) over others.
A numerical system (scale) designed to permit comparisons of the resources needed (or appropriate prices) for various units of service. The RVS is the compiled table of the relative value units (RVUs) for all the objects in the class for which it is developed.