The RVU Shake-Up: Why CMS Is Cutting Surgical Pay—and What It Means for You

In this episode, we break down the upcoming CMS policy that will reduce work RVUs for nearly all non–time-based surgical CPT codes beginning January 1st. Dr. Chris Childers, surgical oncologist and health-policy expert, and Christian Shaughnessy, ACS Senior VP for Advocacy, join us to explain what these cuts mean for surgeons in both private practice and employed models. We explore why CMS believes surgeons are becoming “more efficient,” and why newly published data suggest the opposite may be true. Our guests outline the downstream financial, workforce, and patient-access implications of this unprecedented policy shift. Finally, we discuss how every surgeon can—and should—take action now to help prevent these cuts from taking effect.

Hosts:
Patrick Georgoff, MD, @georgoff
Christopher Childers, MD, PhD, @cchildersmd
Christian Shalgian, ACS Division of Advocacy and Health Policy Senior Vice President

Take action: https://www.facs.org/advocacy/regulatory-issues/fight-back-against-cuts-to-work-relative-value-units/

Longitudinal Trends in Efficiency and Complexity of Surgical Procedures: Analysis of 1.7 Million Operations Between 2019 and 2023: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40801398/

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