Published online December 16, 2008
PEDIATRICS Vol. 123 Supplement January 2009, pp. S92-S96 (doi:10.1542/peds.2008-1755H)
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Menachemi, N.
Right arrow Articles by Simpson, L.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Menachemi, N.
Right arrow Articles by Simpson, L.
Related Collections
Right arrow Computers
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Facebook   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

SUPPLEMENT ARTICLE


Influence of Pay-for-Performance Programs on Information Technology Use Among Child Health Providers: The Devil Is in the Details

Nir Menachemi, PhD, MPHa, Wendy Struchen-Shellhorn, PhD, MPHb, Robert G. Brooks, MD, MBAc and Lisa Simpson, MB, BCh, MPH, FAAPd

a Department of Health Care Organization and Policy, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama
b FMQAI, Tampa, Florida
c Department of Family Medicine and Rural Health, College of Medicine, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida
d Child Policy Research Center, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio

OBJECTIVE. Pay-for-performance programs are used to promote improved health care quality, often through increased use of health information technology. However, little is known about whether pay-for-performance programs influence the adoption of health information technology, especially among child health providers. This study explored how various pay-for-performance compensation methods are related to health information technology use.

METHODS. Survey data from 1014 child health providers practicing in Florida were analyzed by using univariate and multivariate techniques. Questions asked about the adoption of electronic health records and personal digital assistants, as well as types of activities that affected child health provider compensation or income.

RESULTS. The most common reported method to affect respondents' compensation was traditional productivity or billing (78%). Of the pay-for-performance-related methods of compensation, child health providers indicated that measures of clinical care (41%), patient surveys and experience (34%), the use of health information technology (29%), and quality bonuses or incentives (27%) were a major or minor factor in their compensation. In multivariate logistic regression analyses, only pay-for-performance programs that compensated directly for health information technology use were associated with an increased likelihood of electronic health record system adoption. Pay-for-performance programs linking measures of clinical quality to compensation were positively associated with personal digital assistant use among child health providers.

CONCLUSIONS. Pay-for-performance programs that do not directly emphasize health information technology use do not influence the adoption of electronic health records among Florida physicians treating children. Understanding how different pay-for-performance compensation methods incentivize health information technology adoption is important for improving quality.

Key Words: electronic health record • incentives • child health provider

Abbreviations: HIT—health information technology • CHP—child health provider • EHR—electronic health record • CI—confidence interval • P4P—pay-for-performance • PDA—personal digital assistant

Accepted Sep 11, 2008.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Facebook Facebook   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?