How sensitive is physician performance to alternative compensation schedules? Evidence from a large network of primary care clinics
研究59名初级保健医生在薪酬从纯固定工资改为低工资加按服务付费后的行为变化，发现医生将接诊量提高11%至61%，并增加可报销程序。
Despite its centrality for the provision of health care, physician compensation remains understudied, and existing studies either fail to control for time trends, cover small samples from highly particular settings, or examine empirically negligible changes in reward levels. Using a four-year sample of 59 physicians and 1.1 million encounters, we study how physicians at a network of primary care clinics responded when their salaried compensation plan was replaced with a lower salary plus substantial piece rates for encounters and select procedures. Although patient characteristics remained unchanged, physicians increased encounters by 11 to 61%, both by increasing encounters per day and days worked at the network, and increased procedures to the maximum reimbursable level.