Sunday, July 4, 2010

Tidbit: Money Makes a Difference

This interesting tidbit came from "The American Journal of Managed Care, January 2010".
Doctors in a voluntary program called pay-for-performance, P4P, who received financial incentives to provide good care were found to have healthier patients than doctors not in the program. P4P doctors were paid to do tests, like those for A1C and cholesterol, that assess their patients' health, and they received bonuses if they improved these measures year by year. Over three years, people with diabetes who saw doctors in the P4P program required fewer hospitalizations than those who saw physicians outside the program.
On the one side, I feel why should doctors have to be compensated more financially to provide good care. Isn't this what they're supposed to do, Hippocratic Oath and all. Or could I be wrong by creating an association between medical ethics and level of care? Either way, if it's going to work for diabetics maybe we should embrace changing our current system.

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