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Using Behavioral Economics to Design Physician Incentives That Deliver High-Value Care.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Emanuel, EJ; Ubel, PA; Kessler, JB; Meyer, G; Muller, RW; Navathe, AS; Patel, P; Pearl, R; Rosenthal, MB; Sacks, L; Sen, AP; Sherman, P; Volpp, KG
Published in: Annals of internal medicine
January 2016

Behavioral economics provides insights about the development of effective incentives for physicians to deliver high-value care. It suggests that the structure and delivery of incentives can shape behavior, as can thoughtful design of the decision-making environment. This article discusses several principles of behavioral economics, including inertia, loss aversion, choice overload, and relative social ranking. Whereas these principles have been applied to motivate personal health decisions, retirement planning, and savings behavior, they have been largely ignored in the design of physician incentive programs. Applying these principles to physician incentives can improve their effectiveness through better alignment with performance goals. Anecdotal examples of successful incentive programs that apply behavioral economics principles are provided, even as the authors recognize that its application to the design of physician incentives is largely untested, and many outstanding questions exist. Application and rigorous evaluation of infrastructure changes and incentives are needed to design payment systems that incentivize high-quality, cost-conscious care.

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Published In

Annals of internal medicine

DOI

EISSN

1539-3704

ISSN

0003-4819

Publication Date

January 2016

Volume

164

Issue

2

Start / End Page

114 / 119

Related Subject Headings

  • United States
  • Physician Incentive Plans
  • Humans
  • General & Internal Medicine
  • Economics, Behavioral
  • Delivery of Health Care
  • 3202 Clinical sciences
  • 11 Medical and Health Sciences
 

Citation

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Emanuel, E. J., Ubel, P. A., Kessler, J. B., Meyer, G., Muller, R. W., Navathe, A. S., … Volpp, K. G. (2016). Using Behavioral Economics to Design Physician Incentives That Deliver High-Value Care. Annals of Internal Medicine, 164(2), 114–119. https://doi.org/10.7326/m15-1330
Emanuel, Ezekiel J., Peter A. Ubel, Judd B. Kessler, Gregg Meyer, Ralph W. Muller, Amol S. Navathe, Pankaj Patel, et al. “Using Behavioral Economics to Design Physician Incentives That Deliver High-Value Care.Annals of Internal Medicine 164, no. 2 (January 2016): 114–19. https://doi.org/10.7326/m15-1330.
Emanuel EJ, Ubel PA, Kessler JB, Meyer G, Muller RW, Navathe AS, et al. Using Behavioral Economics to Design Physician Incentives That Deliver High-Value Care. Annals of internal medicine. 2016 Jan;164(2):114–9.
Emanuel, Ezekiel J., et al. “Using Behavioral Economics to Design Physician Incentives That Deliver High-Value Care.Annals of Internal Medicine, vol. 164, no. 2, Jan. 2016, pp. 114–19. Epmc, doi:10.7326/m15-1330.
Emanuel EJ, Ubel PA, Kessler JB, Meyer G, Muller RW, Navathe AS, Patel P, Pearl R, Rosenthal MB, Sacks L, Sen AP, Sherman P, Volpp KG. Using Behavioral Economics to Design Physician Incentives That Deliver High-Value Care. Annals of internal medicine. 2016 Jan;164(2):114–119.

Published In

Annals of internal medicine

DOI

EISSN

1539-3704

ISSN

0003-4819

Publication Date

January 2016

Volume

164

Issue

2

Start / End Page

114 / 119

Related Subject Headings

  • United States
  • Physician Incentive Plans
  • Humans
  • General & Internal Medicine
  • Economics, Behavioral
  • Delivery of Health Care
  • 3202 Clinical sciences
  • 11 Medical and Health Sciences