What is the FACF?
Your FACF, or Frequency Adjusted Conversion Factor, is literally the average dollars you charge per RVU point you perform.
It serves as a great measurement of the relative "cost" of your practice. Is someone who charges only $10 for a physical but $150 for a standard sick visit an expensive or inexpensive practice (besides being silly)? With your FACF, you can make that determination across all of your procedures. Your FACF is also instrumental as a guideline for setting your practice fees.
In summary, a practice with a higher FACF can be considered to charge more than one with a lower FACF.
For a deeper discussion about how to set your practice fees, read PCC's essay on Calculating Fee Schedules to Optimize Your Revenues or one of our many true client success stories, Let RBRVU Fees Turn Sense into Dollars from the September 2003 issue of PCC's Partner Network.
What is the Pediatric Benchmark for FACF?
Please note that PCC clients take advantage of PCC's practice management system for pediatricians, Partner, and PCC's practice management expertise. As a result, the FACF values above are likely to exceed the natural average of your practice.
How do I calculate the FACF for my practice?
The calculation is simple. First, add up the RVU points for all the procedures you performed. Then, add up all the dollars you charged for procedures with valid RVU values. Finally, divide the dollar amount by your total RVUs.
Practical experience indicates, however, that calculating all the RVUs generated by a practice is difficult to do. Fortunately, PCC clients can calculate this number at any time using the PCC Benchmark feature of srs.
One fast method for roughly determining your FACF is to use PCC's free RVU Calculator and plug in your most common codes. Then play with the "Medicare Pricing Multiplier" until you get a sense of the level at which you have set your prices. Unfortunately, this method leaves a lot to be desired mathmatically, especially if you do not have a consistent pricing method.
