The Inability of the Consumer Price Index to Measure Cost of Quality of Medical Care Report of the Bureau of Research and Planning

摘要

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) of the Bureau of Labor Statistics is an index which measures the price changes of 300 goods and services. Among these 300 items are several which reflect price changes for selected health care and medical care services. These comprise the medical care index and physician fee index, depending on what services are being measured.The Physician Fee Index is based upon charges for five procedures rendered by physicians: Appendectomy, tonsillectomy, obstetrical delivery, home visits and office visits.Although the CPI takes into account quality changes in the prices for various goods, it is unable to do so for services, particularly physicians' services.The difficulty in measuring the “cost” of quality of medical care overstates price increases in the physician fee and medical care indexes.