Okay...I've gottent the jist that RBRVS is Greek to most IBCLCs.  It stands
for RESOURCE BASED RELATIVE VALUE SCALE (OR SYSTEM).  In it's original form
(developed in the 1980s by a Harvard Health Services Research professor), it
was intended to accurately reflect the resources that went into producing a
medical service.  The idea was that many different specialists actually
could perform similar tasks, but how could we account for variations in
training, geographic area, malpractice risk, practice costs, etc.  Thus, the
RBRVS system was born.  Medicare adopted it in the early 1990s, and has
since changed it many times.  It is a prospective "fee scale", if you will,
but not exactly, because there are these conversion factors that get worked
into it.  The concept is one that I am trying to adapt for lactation
consultants.  There is the misconception among LCs that we can't talk about
fees from a legal perspective.  That is simply not true.  The whole fee
issue took a major leap when Medicare passed the legislation for RBRVS and
most insurance companies that reimburse physicians using fees (as opposed to
capitation or salary), now do so on a modified RBRVS.

For those who care to know...PhD (doctor of philosophy--mine is in public
health with a specialty in Health Services Research and policy; MPH=Master
of Public Health, mine is in Behavioral Sciences & Health Education;
CHES=Certified Health Education Specialist (similar in  ed., exp, and
testing requirements to IBCLC, but MUCH more general in that you must know
many different topics in health).

I hope the above answered all your quesions!
Chris Hafner-Eaton, PhD, MPH, CHES, IBCLC    [log in to unmask]
mom, wife, educator, lactation consultant, researcher, scientist, author,
organic gardener, photographer, lapidary creator, lousy cleaner.

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