Results Current evidence indicates that incentives can be effective in driving health behaviour change under certain provisos , while a number of misgivings continue to be deliberated on .
Conclusion These key principles can assist policy makers in making decisions on the use of financial incentives directed at achieving improvements in public health
Background The use of financial incentives or pay-for-performance programs for health care providers has triggered emerging interest in the use of financial incentives for encouraging health behaviour change .
Purpose This paper aims to identify key conditions under which the use of financial incentives for improvements in public health outcomes is most likely to be effective and appropriate .
Effect of reinforcement probability and prize size on cocaine and heroin abstinence in prize-based contingency management.
Although treatment outcome in prize-based contingency management has been shown to depend on reinforcement schedule , the optimal schedule is still unknown . Therefore , we conducted a retrospective analysis of data from a r and omized clinical trial ( Ghitza et al. , 2007 ) to determine the effects of the probability of winning a prize  ( low vs. high ) and the size of the prize won ( small , large , or jumbo ) on likelihood of abstinence until the next urine- collection day for heroin and cocaine users ( N=116 ) in methadone maintenance . Higher probability of winning , but not the size of individual prizes , was associated with a greater percentage of cocaine-negative , but not opiate-negative , urines
Results Current evidence indicates that incentives can be effective in driving health behaviour change under certain provisos , while a number of misgivings continue to be deliberated on .
Conclusion These key principles can assist policy makers in making decisions on the use of financial incentives directed at achieving improvements in public health
Background The use of financial incentives or pay-for-performance programs for health care providers has triggered emerging interest in the use of financial incentives for encouraging health behaviour change .
Purpose This paper aims to identify key conditions under which the use of financial incentives for improvements in public health outcomes is most likely to be effective and appropriate .