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JCAHO unveils principles to guide pay-for-performance programs

Credentialing Resource Center Connection, December 16, 2004

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The JCAHO last month unveiled a set of principles to guide the development and refinement of healthcare pay-for-performance programs.

While more than 100 pay-for-performance programs currently exist nationwide, few of these programs are guided by explicit principles that articulate overarching goals, the JCAHO said in a press release.

The principles are intended for policymakers, third-party payers, health plans, purchasers, and others who are involved in programs that provide incentives for achieving performance benchmarks, the JCAHO said.

The Joint Commission is urging that new models for payment give specific attention to aligning incentives among patients, practitioners, provider organizations, purchasers, and payers. "We are truly at a crossroads in determining the future direction of healthcare," said JCAHO president Dennis S. O'Leary, MD, in the press release. "The thoughtful design of pay-for-performance programs and ongoing efforts to evaluate their effectiveness should eventually provide the bases for understanding how best to use financial and other incentives to leverage continuous improvement in the safety and quality of care."

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