Publications

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February 1999 (Revised October 1999)
Background Note

Note on Physician Compensation and Financial Incentives

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer and Melanie M Harshbarger

A review of the use and effectiveness of financial incentives in changing physician behavior. View Details

Keywords: Change; Finance; Compensation and Benefits; Performance Effectiveness; Behavior; Motivation and Incentives

Research Summary

Physician vs. Patient Incentives in Prescription Drug Choice

The market for medical care involves interactions among patients, providers, and the insurers who pay for the care of their enrollees. The division of responsibilities creates scope for agency costs and moral hazard in the physician's treatment choice.... View Details

November 2019
Article

A Review of Bundled Payments in Total Joint Replacement

By: Olivia Manickas-Hill, Kevin J. Bozic and Thomas W. Feeley

The Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) initiative, developed by the U.S. Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation, aims to reduce health care expenditures while maintaining or improving patient outcomes.
Several published reports evaluating the impact... View Details

Keywords: Bundled Payments; Health Care and Treatment; Cost Management

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August 2014 (Revised March 2015)
Case

Pivots and Incentives at LevelUp

By: Benjamin Edelman and Karen Webster

LevelUp's mobile payments service lets users scan a smartphone barcode rather than swipe a credit card. Will consumers embrace the service? Will merchants? LevelUp considers adjustments to make the service attractive to both consumers and merchants, while trying to... View Details

Keywords: Mobile Payments; Smartphone; Credit Cards; Interchange Fee; Mobile Marketing; Product Positioning; Competitive Strategy; Mobile Technology; Technology Networks; Food and Beverage Industry; Banking Industry; United States

November 2011
Case

Lowell General Physician Hospital Organization

By: Richard M.J. Bohmer and Natalie Kindred

This case focuses on the Alternative Quality Contract (AQC), a novel payment program designed to incentivize providers to deliver less costly, high quality health care. Under the AQC, offered by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, providers received a fixed-dollar... View Details

Keywords: Cost Management; Service Delivery; Health Care and Treatment; Health Industry; Massachusetts

April 2021
Article

Today's Surgeon Compensation Models Fall Short: Aligning Incentives to Create More Equitable and Value-based Compensation Models

By: Susanna Gallani, Mary Witkowski, Lauren Haskins, Haley Jeffcoat, Vinita Mujumdar and Frank Opelka

Modern medicine is undergoing a transformation that involves innovative surgical approaches, increased medical treatment options, clinical care pathways that require collaboration beyond hospital walls, and health data captured by electronic health records and other... View Details

Keywords: Physician Compensation; Surgeons; Health Care and Treatment; Business Model; Compensation and Benefits

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13 Aug 2024
Op-Ed

Can AI Save Physicians from Burnout?

way of progress? But there’s a problem: Most US physicians do not practice within systems that prioritize physician or even patient well-being. The predominance of fee-for-service View Details

Keywords: by Susanna Gallani, Lidia Moura, and Katie Sonnefeldt; Health

Article

Effect of Different Financial Incentive Structures on Promoting Physical Activity Among Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial

By: Chethan Bachireddy, Andrew Joung, Leslie K. John, Francesca Gino, Bradford Tuckfield, Luca Foschini and Katherine L. Milkman

Importance: Few adults engage in recommended levels of physical activity. Financial incentives can promote physical activity, but little is known about how their structure influences their effectiveness; for example, whether incentives are more effective if they are... View Details

Keywords: Physical Activity; Financial Incentives; Motivation and Incentives; Money

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August 2008 (Revised May 2009)
Case

Consumer Payment Systems — Japan

By: Benjamin Edelman and Andrei Hagiu

In 2008, the Japanese consumer payments landscape featured ongoing widespread use of cash, limited use of credit cards and rapid rise of e-money systems based on contactless technology embedded in cards and especially mobile phones. The case details the alliances that... View Details

Keywords: Personal Finance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Digital Platforms; Alliances; Competitive Strategy; Information Infrastructure; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Japan

February 2011
Article

Welfare Payments and Crime

By: C. Fritz Foley

Analysis of daily reported incidents of major crimes in twelve U.S. cities reveals an increase in crime over the course of monthly welfare payment cycles. This increase reflects an increase in crimes that are likely to have a direct financial motivation like burglary,... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Motivation and Incentives; Welfare; United States

SSRN

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2008
Working Paper

Welfare Payments and Crime

By: C. Fritz Foley

This paper tests the hypothesis that the timing of welfare payments affects criminal activity. Analysis of daily reported incidents of major crimes in twelve U.S. cities reveals an increase in crime over the course of monthly welfare payment cycles. This increase... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Motivation and Incentives; Welfare; United States

SSRN

August 2008 (Revised July 2011)
Case

Consumer Payment Systems — United States

By: Benjamin Edelman and Andrei Hagiu

In 2008, the U.S. consumer payments landscape was characterized by the ongoing prevalence of credit and debit card networks, the decline of checks, the rise of stored value cards, and the growth of new payment methods such as PayPal, Bill Me Later, and decoupled debit.... View Details

Keywords: Borrowing and Debt; Financial Management; Personal Finance; Digital Platforms; Motivation and Incentives; Competitive Strategy; Internet and the Web; United States

October 19, 2015
Article

Getting Bundled Payments Right in Health Care

By: Robert S. Kaplan, Derek A. Haas, Dereesa Reid, Jonathan Warsh and Michael E. West

Bundled payments—single payments that cover all the care for a patient’s medical condition or treatment over a specified timeframe—are increasingly being deployed to motivate the delivery of better patient outcomes at lower costs. Hoag Orthopedic Institute (HOI), a... View Details

Keywords: Health Care and Treatment; Product Marketing; Health Industry

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November 2016 (Revised December 2016)
Module Note

Strategy Execution Module 12: Aligning Performance Goals and Incentives

By: Robert Simons

This module reading explains how managers use performance goals and incentives to ensure that employee actions align with the overall business strategy of the organization. The module begins by discussing how managers use goals to communicate business strategy, the... View Details

Keywords: Management Control Systems; Implementing Strategy; Execution; Performance Goals; Performance Measures; Incentives; Benchmarks; Motivation; Compensation; Bonuses; Strategy

October 16, 2024
Article

Physicians Can Help Cut Costs. They Just Need the Right Incentives.

By: Susanna Gallani and Derek A. Haas

Health care organizations have long tried to enlist physicians in their effort to control or reduce costs. One effective means for doing so is to create an incentive system that rewards physicians for their contributions. To design such a system, organizations should... View Details

Keywords: Cost; Motivation and Incentives; Compensation and Benefits; Health Industry

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September 2003 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Performance Pay for MGOA Physicians (A)

Examines the transition of an orthopedic surgical group at a premier teaching and research hospital from a system in which the surgeons are compensated with flat salaries to a system where they are compensated based on profitability. Allows for an examination of... View Details

Keywords: Value Creation; Motivation and Incentives; Nonprofit Organizations; Health Care and Treatment; Compensation and Benefits; Health Industry