Summary: In Part 2 of my conversation with Dr. Manaker, we discuss some of the common criticisms of the RUC, and why the group is structured the way it is. Long story short, it’s an imperfect group that was designed to most effectively do the otherwise overwhelmingly gargantuan task of determining the value of the procedures physicians bill for. For more background on the RUC and Dr. Manaker, check out Part 1. https://soundcloud.com/pennhealthxpodcast/31-dr-scott-manaker-the-ruc-and-determining-how-much-physicians-get-paid Dr. Scott Manaker is a an attending Pulmonary and Critical Care physician at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. I first heard about Dr. Manaker being at Penn when I fell down the rabbit hole researching a fascinating part of the U.S Healthcare system – a group called the Specialty Society Relative Value Scale Update Committee, or the “RUC” for short. Dr. Manaker is a member of this group, and I felt really privileged to be able to sit down with him and pick his brain. I think you’ll find that rather than a secret organization that is sneakily carving up the healthcare dollars and distributing them as they see fit, they are a tenacious, dedicated group of specialists who are performing difficult, painstaking, and often thank-less work. Links AMA - RUC Websites www.ama-assn.org/rvs-update-committee-ruc www.ama-assn.org/about-us/composi…te-committee-ruc www.ama-assn.org/rbrvs-overview Articles Discussing RUC - some critical, some balanced washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/julya…/special-deal/ replacetheruc.net/key-articles-not-here/ economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/10/…st=cse&_r=0
