Financial Incentives to Physicians

Abstract

Physicians are under increasing pressure from hospitals and managed care plans to practice more efficiently. The focus is no longer on a minority of outliers but instead on the practice patterns of most physicians, since it is recognized that large savings are possible only when doctors as a group move in the direction of greater efficiency.The challenge is to find appropriate ways to change physicians' practice patterns. Historically, doctors have resisted change initiated by those outside the medical profession. This resistance results not only from habits acquired in medical school and residency training but also from the ethical tenet . . .