geographic pricing cost index geographic pricing cost index geographic practice cost index is used along with relative value units by medicare to determine allowable payment amounts for medical procedures. there are multiple gpcis: cost of living, malpractice, and practice cost/expense. these categories allow medicare to adjust reimbursement rates to take into account regional and practice-specific factors. an example calculation for a medicare allowed amount is: 2009 non-facility pricing amount = * conversion factor (cf)