Combined impact of Medicare's hospital pay for performance programs on quality and safety outcomes is mixed.
Waters TM, Burns N, Kaplan CM, et al. Combined impact of Medicare’s hospital pay for performance programs on quality and safety outcomes is mixed. BMC Health Serv Res. 2022;22(1):958. doi:10.1186/s12913-022-08348-w.
Pay-for-performance (P4P) strategies have been used by federal agencies to incentivize high quality care and reduce medical errors. This study used 2007 to 2016 inpatient discharge data from 14 states to compare rates of inpatient quality indicators and patient safety indicators before and after the implementation of the Medicare’s P4P program. Analyses identified limited improvement in quality and patient safety indicators.