The largest pay-for-performance program in the country is recommending that health plans increase the financial bonus they pay physicians for meeting quality goals to 10% instead of the current 1.5%, according to an article in the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal. Up to 35,000 California physicians who participate in HMO plans would be eligible for the bonuses that reward physicians for improving patient outcomes, keeping patients satisfied, and adopting technology. In the first two years of the California Pay-for-Performance Program, run by the not-for-profit Integrated Healthcare Association, physicians improved clinical outcomes between 1% and 10%, and 54% of the physicians received a bonus for using technology to monitor patient data. The coalition of physician practices, health plans, and employers intends to expand the performance measures beyond the current 10.
The article quotes Gifford Boyce-Smith, MD, senior medical director of quality management at Blue Shield, as saying that, to be successful, financial incentives tied to performance have to make “the difference between a so-so income and a sparkling income."
