Appropriate use of the pay-for-performance system may improve quality of care by counteracting physician incentives to overtreat in fee-for-service situations or undertreat in capitation plans.
To be a useful tool for assessing quality of physician care, pay-for-performance must be designed to include process measures and to not penalize physicians for treating patients with difficult-to-manage conditions.
State laws often require physicians to report suspected abuse and assault, creating a dilemma for physicians who must not only treat the injured patient but act as an informant to police.
Dr Keith W. Hamilton joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article, coauthored with Dr George Maliha, Keith Robert Thomas, and Mary Ellen Nepps: “How Might Antibiotic Stewardship Programs Influence Clinicians’ Autonomy and Organizations’ Liability?”