Open AccessDoes Pay-For-Performance Program Increase Providers Adherence to Guidelines for Managing Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Taiwan?
Author(s) -
Huei Ju Chen,
Nicole Huang,
Long Sheng Chen,
Yiing Jenq Chou,
Chung Pin Li,
Chen Wu,
YeunChung Chang
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0161002
Subject(s) - medicine , hepatitis b virus , guideline , hepatitis c virus , pay for performance , hepatitis b , propensity score matching , family medicine , emergency medicine , incentive , immunology , virus , pathology , economics , microeconomics
Background Many people are concerned about that the quality of preventive care for patients with hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is suboptimal. Taiwan, a hyperendemic area of chronic HBV and HCV infection, implemented a nationwide pay-for-performance (P4P) program in 2010, which aimed to improve the preventive care provided to HBV and HCV patients by increasing physicians’ adherence to guidelines through financial incentives. The objective of this study was to evaluate the early effects of the P4P program on utilization of preventive services by HBV and HCV patients. Methods Using a quasi-experimental design with propensity score matching method, we matched the HBV and HCV patients enrolled in the P4P program with non-enrollees in 2010, resulting in 21,643 patients in each group. Generalized estimating equations was applied to examine the difference-in-difference effects of P4P program enrollment on the utilization of three guideline-recommended preventive services (regular outpatient follow-up visits, abdominal ultrasonography (US) examinations, and aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase (AST/ALT) tests by HBV and HCV patients. Results The P4P program enrollees were significantly more likely to attend twice-annual follow-up visits, to receive recommended US examinations and AST/ALT tests, than non-enrollees. Conclusions The results of our preliminary assessment indicate that financial incentives offered by the P4P program was associated with a modest improvement in adherence to guidelines for better chronic HBV and HBC management.