Physician incentives for salaried physicians in the Boston-based Massachusetts General Physicians Organization appear to have had a meaningful contribution to quality improvements in many areas over a six year time period, according to a report published in Health Affairs.
The MGPO employs more than 98 percent of physicians at Massachusetts General Hospital, also in Boston, according to a news release.
The organization's quality incentive program gave eligible physicians performance targets for three quality measures every six months with incentives of up to 2 percent of a physician's annual income up to $5,000.
While study authors found quality-of-care improvements and cost reductions difficult to calculate directly, after 13 months and 130 different quality measures the program produced:
• Adoption of an electronic health record, meeting of meaningful use criteria and $15.5 million in incentive payments.
• Improved hand hygiene compliance.
• Increased efficiency, standardization and timeliness in radiology and cancer care.
• Decrease emergency department use.
The case study concluded that small incentives, given a metric-focused, incremental and goal-directed structure, can help salaried physicians alter their behavior in such a way that gradually improves care without introducing administrative burden.
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