Incentive mechanisms require deeper understanding

doi:10.1136/bmj.a1135

From trainee to consultant, BMJ Group offers doctors around the world tailored information, special events, learning resources and recruitment services at every step along their career path.

... by doctors, for doctors, for patients
We are open for entries!

Online learning

BMJ Learning

High-quality CME / CPD for doctors and other healthcare professionals. BMJ Learning features hundreds of accredited, peer-reviewed learning modules in text, video, and audio formats. Find out more

Courses and Qualifications

BMJ Masterclasses

BMJ Masterclasses, led by experts, help clinicians to use the latest evidence and recent guidelines in practice and meet their CPD/CME requirements. Find out more

Exam Preparation

The leading provider of online exam preparation, helping over 167,000 healthcare professionals to pass their exams. Find out more

onExamination

Search all BMJ comment articles:

From

Limit by

Access to the full text of this article requires a subscription or payment. Please log in or subscribe below.

Richard E Ashcroft, professor of bioethics1,
Theresa M Marteau, professor of health psychology2,
Adam Oliver, RCUK senior academic fellow in health economics and policy3

¹Queen Mary, University of London, School of Law, London E1 4NS
²Psychology Department, Health Psychology Section, Guy’s Campus, London SE1 9RT
³LSE Health, London School of Economics, London WC2A 2AE

Cookson and Popay make some important points about the merits and problems of using cash incentives to change health behaviour in disadvantaged populations.1 2

Cookson makes three moral arguments and one prudential argument. Firstly, cash incentives provide an inducement to recipients to change their behaviour to lessen harm to third parties. We could go further and consider direct coercion, for instance, through criminal sanctions. …