Payment incentives for GPs bear no relation to health benefits

doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7533.71

BMJ 2006;332:71 (14 January), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7533.71

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Payment incentives for GPs bear no relation to health benefits

Abergavenny Roger Dobson

Incentive payments in the new NHS contract for primary care bear no relation to likely health benefits for their patients, concludes new research.

In some cases GPs will get paid more for treatments that save fewer lives than they will for treatments that achieve better results, say the authors of a study in the Journal of Health Services Research & Policy (2006:11:27-31).

Angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors for heart failure will save a maximum of 308 lives per 100 000 people in the population and attract a maximum practice payment of �2400 ($4240; �3510). Yet screening and treating hypertension, which will save a maximum of 71 lives per 100 000 people, carries a payment of �17 280.

The report says, "This finding suggests that there is a real danger the incentive payments may skew activity towards highly rewarded labour-intensive activities with relatively low benefits to population health. . . . [Full text of this article]

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