Paying Wisely: Reforming Incentives to Promote Evidence-Based Decisions at the Point of Care

Paying Wisely: Reforming Incentives to Promote Evidence-Based Decisions at the Point of Care

Published: Oct 30, 2012
Publisher: Washington, DC: Mathematica Policy Research

Associated Project

The Feasibility of Collecting Data on Physicians and Their Practices

Time frame: 2011-2014

Prepared for:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Authors

Eugene C. Rich

Tim Lake

Christal Stone Valenzano

This white paper describes how current financial incentives in the fee-for-service (FFS) system can lead to the over- and underuse of services at the point of care by physicians and other clinicians. It explores prominent payment reform models and concludes that no single approach consistently rewards evidence-based care. The paper also suggests that more targeted use of these models—grounded in recalibrated FFS—might be the most effective way to neutralize incentives and facilitate evidence-based decision making at the point of care.

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