News and briefs: Incentive programs still raise too many questions

Can a physician’s performance truly be affected by financial incentives? A review by The Cochrane Library of plans that directly tie payment to performance and quality of care found that there is not enough evidence to support switching to these types of models. Although it has become popular in other countries, and there are talks of creating accountable care organizations in the US, The Cochrane Library is calling for more trials to be conducted before switching to this model. Some questions raised by Cochrane included: was the healthcare provider who helped the patient the one receiving the financial incentive, and were only top-notch physicians selected to participate in these incentive programs? For more information visit The Cochrane Library or Medscape News.