Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (4)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ashworth, M.
Right arrow Articles by Majeed, A.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Ashworth, M.
Right arrow Articles by Majeed, A.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Journal of Public Health 26(1) © Faculty of Public Health 2004; all rights reserved.

How are primary care organizations using financial incentives to influence prescribing?



Mark Ashworth, STaRNet Lead general practitioner
GKT Department of General Practice and Primary Care, King's College London, 5 Lambeth Walk, London SE11 6SP


Robert Lea, Prescribing Adviser
South East NHS Region, Eastbourne Terrace, London W2 3QR


Heather Gray, Prescribing Adviser
London NHS Region, Eastbourne Terrace, London W2 3QR


Gill Rowlands, Director, StaRNeT London
Department of Community Health Sciences, St George's Hospital Medical School, Hunter Wing, Cranmer Terrace, London SW17 0RE


Hugh Gravelle, Professor of Economics
National Primary Care Research and Development Centre, Centre for Health Economics, Alcuin Block D, Heslington, York YO10 5DD


Azeem Majeed, Professor of Primary Care
School of Public Policy, University College London, London WC1H 9QU

Address correspondence to Mark Ashworth. E-mail: mark.ashworth{at}gp-G85053.nhs.uk

Methods Primary care organizations (PCOs) in England are required to run a prescribing incentive scheme. The average payment received by general practitioners (GPs) under these schemes is not known. We conducted a longitudinal (2 year) questionnaire study of all PCOs in London and the south east of England aiming to explore the relationship between the financial incentives, the selection of prescribing indicators and success at remaining within budget. In the second year, the average reward per GP amounted to £1220 (range £470–£4330). Underspent PCOs made larger incentive scheme payments to their practices as did PCOs that had successfully overturned a first year overspend into a second year underspend. The size of rewards was unrelated to the selection of any particular cost- or quality-based prescribing indicator. We conclude that larger prescribing incentive scheme payments may have contributed to prescribing cost control but their effect on prescribing quality is uncertain.

Keywords: prescribing indicators, prescribing change, primary care organizations


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.