Resource-based relative value scale: a new payment system for practitioners under Medicare.

Congress has directed the Physician Payment Review Commission to evaluate ways that the Part B Medicare program may be changed to modify the way physicians are reimbursed and to slow down the growth of expenditures in the program. This survey article summarizes the work in the development of a resource-based relative value scale (RVS), discusses the major issues dealt with by the PPRC, the results of Congressional action, and the issues of concern for optometrists.