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ASA members may be asked to participate in surveys to help value certain CPT codes. The following information has been supplied by the AMA/Specialty Society RVS Update Committee and can help you through the process.
When new CPT codes are created, existing codes are revised, or when a service has been identified as being potentially misvalued, the service needs to go through a valuation process. This begins at the AMA/Specialty Society RVS Update Committee – known as the RUC.
Specialty societies whose members perform the service under review will conduct surveys according to the process established by the RUC. Typically, the societies must randomly select members to participate in these surveys. ASA members may be asked to participate in surveys that describe anesthesia care, pain medicine or critical care when codes that describe this care are the subject of a RUC survey.
The specialty societies will present the results of these surveys to the RUC. The RUC reviews the results and the societies’ recommended values and then forwards its own recommendation on to CMS, who will make the final decision on the value of the services.
The surveys are conducted online and may seem a bit daunting at first. There are resources to help those selected to participate in a survey understand the process and how to complete the survey, including:
Understanding the RUC Survey Instrument – Anesthesia Services
Understanding the RUC Survey Instrument- Physician Services without a Global Period (XXX-Global)
Understanding the RUC Survey Instrument- Surgical Services (would include most pain medicine procedures)
If you are invited to participate in a RUC survey and perform the service under review, we hope that having access to the information in these videos will encourage you to complete the surveys.
