• E-mail
• Print
• RSS

Study finds slow start for P4P programs

Physician Practice Advisor, December 21, 2005

According to a study released last week by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC), pay-for-performance (P4P) initiatives have failed to gain traction in many communities across the nation. Despite the buzz about the potential of offering financial rewards to physicians to improve patient care, the study found some physicians skeptical about the program.

Of the 12 nationally representative communities tracked by HSC for the last 10 years, only communities like Boston's and Orange County's-where physicians tend to organize in large medical groups-had significant pay-for-performance programs. The study also condcluded that, in many markets where physicians do not belong to physician organizations, quality measurement is virtually meaningless and payments per physician will be too small to gain physician acceptance and influence practice patterns.

"While there's been plenty of buzz about pay for performance as a way to improve health care quality, the reality is that these initiatives are off to a slow start in many communities," said Paul B. Ginsburg, Ph.D., president of HSC, a nonpartisan policy research organization funded principally by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Click here to read the HSC Report.

• E-mail to a Colleague
• Print
• RSS
• Archive