Pay for Performance

Pay-for-performance (P4P) initiatives are being discussed as a mechanism for improving quality in various health care settings and among certain populations. The 2006 Massachusetts health care reform law included several provisions to address health disparities, including a requirement to link Medicaid hospital rate increases to a reduction in racial and ethnic health care disparities. However little is known about how implementation of these policies will affect communities of color and the institutions that serve them.

To discuss the opportunities and challenges of designing pay-for-performance measures to address health disparities, Families USA hosted a conference call October 23, 2007. The call featured Dr. Robin M. Weinick, Senior Scientist, Institute of Medicine, Massachusetts General and Byron Sogie-Thomas, a policy analyst for the National Medical Association (NMA).

Listen to the audio for this conference call: RealPlayer | Windows Media

Related Resources

• Weinick, RM et al. “Pay-for-Performance to Reduce Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care in the Massachusetts Medicaid Program” report
  
  
• Weinick RM et al. Measuring Racial and Ethnic Health Care Disparities in Massachusetts. Health Affairs. 2007. 26(5): 1293-1302
  
  
• Casalino LP et al. Will Pay-For-Performance And Quality Reporting Affect Health Disparities? Health Affairs. 2007. 26(3): w405-w414
  
  
• Gadson, SL. “The Health Disparities Question: Will Pay-for-Performance Measure Up” presentation
  
  
• Sogie-Thomas, B. “Pay for Performance and Its Potential Impact on American Healthcare”