THE EFFECT OF PSROS ON HEALTH CARE COSTS: CURRENT FINDINGS AND FUTURE EVALUATIONS The Congress of the United States PREFACE At the request of the Subcommittee on Oversight of the House Committee on Ways and Means, the Congressional Budget Office prepared this background paper analyzing the effectiveness of the Professional Standards Review Organizations in curbing the growth of expenditures for health care. The paper also identifies the gaps in what is known about the effectiveness of the PSRO program and explains why a more complete and reliable evaluation will depend on the way in which the program is implemented in the future. The paper was prepared by Paul B. Ginsburg and Daniel M. Koretz of CBO's Human Resources and Community Development Division under the supervision of Robert D. Reischauer and David S. Mundel. The authors are grateful for the help of Allen Dobson, Peter McMenamin, and Paul Eggers of the Health Care Financing Administration. Mitchell Dayton of the University of Maryland helped in many ways, including providing the computer work for CBO's reanalysis of the data. Paul Gertman of Boston University contributed valuable suggestions and comments, as did Larry Wilson, Cheryl Smith, and C. Richard Neu of CBO. The manuscript was edited by Johanna Zacharias and Robert L. Faherty, assisted by Brice S. McDaniel. Toni Wright typed the many drafts and prepared the final manuscript for publication. In keeping with CBO's mandate to provide objective analysis, this study offers no recommendations. Alice M. Rivlin Director |