Use of Care Management Practices in Small‐ and Medium‐Sized Physician Groups: Do Public Reporting of Physician Quality and Financial Incentives Matter?

Objective

To examine the effect of public reporting () and financial incentives tied to quality performance on the use of care management practices (s) among small‐ and medium‐sized physician groups.

Data

Survey data from he ational tudy of mall and edium‐sized hysician ractices were used. Primary data collection was also conducted to assess community‐level activities. The final sample included 643 practices engaged in quality reporting; about half of these practices were subject to .

Study Design

We used a treatment effects model. The instrumental variables were the community‐level variables that capture the level of activity in each community in which the practices operate.

Findings

(1) is associated with increased use of s, but the estimate is not statistically significant; (2) financial incentives are associated with greater use of s; (3) practices' awareness/sensitivity to quality reports is positively related to their use of s; and (4) combined and financial incentives jointly affect use to a greater degree than either of these factors alone.

Conclusion

Small‐ to medium‐sized practices appear to respond to and financial incentives by greater use of s. Future research needs to investigate the appropriate mix and type of incentive arrangements and quality reporting.