Doctors and Nurses
Oncologists and surgeons treating breast cancer patients in Los Angeles County reported modest participation in financial incentive programs, indicating notable challenges in boosting pay for performance outside of HMOs and other staff-based care delivery organizations, according to a study in the American Journal of Managed Care.
Many cancer care providers who do not belong to large group practices are not enrolled in pay-for-performance programs because of financial and information technology limitations and weaker associations between primary care physicians and specialists, researchers found.
The study recommends developing new approaches to attract specialists to incentive programs, as well as further research into how incentive programs affect quality of care (Tisnado et al., American Journal of Managed Care, July 2008).