The tougher the better: An economic analysis of increased payment thresholds on the performance of general practices

Yan Feng, Ada Ma, Shelley Farrar, Matt Sutton

Research output: Journal PublicationArticlepeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We investigate whether and how a change in performance-related payment motivated General Practitioners (GPs) in Scotland. We evaluate the effect of increases in the performance thresholds required for maximum payment under the Quality and Outcomes Framework in April 2006. A difference-in-differences estimator with fixed effects was employed to examine the number of patients treated under clinical indicators whose payment schedules were revised and to compare these with the figures for those indicators whose schedules remained unchanged. The results suggest that the increase in the maximum performance thresholds increased GPs' performance by 1.77% on average. Low-performing GPs improved significantly more (13.22%) than their high-performing counterparts (0.24%). Changes to maximum performance thresholds are differentially effective in incentivising GPs and could be used further to raise GPs' performance across all indicators.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)353-371
Number of pages19
JournalHealth Economics (United Kingdom)
Volume24
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Mar 2015

Keywords

  • Financial incentives
  • General practitioners
  • Quality and outcomes framework

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Health Policy

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