Dollar amount for professional services rendered to a patient by a provider.

Communication of medical charges with a patient by a provider or office manager before medical services and treatment are rendered.

To fix prices at a given level or place for a specific period of time.

1. Listing in an insurance policy of procedure code numbers with charges or pre-established allowances for specific medical services and procedures. Also called table of allowances, fee allowance, fee maximum , benefit payment schedule, benefit schedule, schedule of allowances, schedule of benefits , or capped fee . 2. Record of procedure code numbers and services with dollar amounts, or payment amounts by a payer that could be percentages of billed charges, flat rates, or maximum allowable amounts set down by the managed care plan. 3. Annually published Medicare fee schedule (MFS) with procedure codes in the Federal Register ; applies to surgeries, clinical laboratory tests, radiological procedures, and durable medical equipment. The fees shown are the maximum dollar amounts Medicare will allow for each service rendered for a beneficiary. MFS is based on the calculation of several components including relative value unit (RVU), which is based on three factors: the physician’s work, overhead expenses, and malpractice insurance. Also called schedule . See also relative value studies (RVS) .