Financial Incentives and Physician Behavior

Paper Summary:

This paper looks at the relationship between the financial incentives that are offered to physicians and their behavior and their ethics. It evaluates, through a literature review and data support, the belief that physicians are spending less time with their patients under pressure from Managed Care Organizations. It shows how because less time is being spent with the patients, the quality of care offered by the physician has gone down and how this is one of the problems with managed care.

Outline
Introduction
Background
Conflicts and Capitation
Purpose of this Research
Goals of this Research
Literature Review
Quality of Care Components
Payment Methods
Physician Behavior
Kaiser Family Study Theoretical Implications
Financial Incentives
Theoretical Implications
Ethics
Methodology
Results and Findings
Discussion

From the Paper:

"There was a problem with the MCO system, however. It created a conflict of interest for many physicians. The main concern was that the quality of care was being compromised because physicians had to be careful how many tests they ordered and how many referrals they made. Because of the quota, there may have been people who needed more advanced care and didn't get it. Not all physicians minded the system, of course, because there are some people in every profession who are only out for the paycheck. The physicians that were dedicated to helping their patients, however, soon took issue with the MCO system."

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