Financial incentives may be effective in changing healthcare professional practice .
We found no evidence from review s that examined the effect of financial incentives on patient outcomes
BACKGROUND There is considerable interest in the effectiveness of financial incentives in the delivery of health care .
Incentives may be used in an attempt to increase the use of evidence -based treatments among healthcare professionals or to stimulate health professionals to change their clinical behaviour with respect to preventive , diagnostic and treatment decisions , or both .
Financial incentives are an extrinsic source of motivation and exist when an individual can expect a monetary transfer which is made conditional on acting in a particular way .
Since there are numerous review s performed within the healthcare area describing the effects of various types of financial incentives , it is important to summarise the effectiveness of these in an overview to discern which are most effective in changing health professionals ' behaviour and patient outcomes .
OBJECTIVES To conduct an overview of systematic review s that evaluates the impact of financial incentives on healthcare professional behaviour and patient outcomes .
Development, feasibility and performance of a health risk appraisal questionnaire for older persons
Background Health risk appraisal is a promising method for health promotion and prevention in older persons . The Health Risk Appraisal for the Elderly ( HRA-E ) developed in the U.S. has unique features but has not been tested outside the United States . Methods Based on the original HRA-E , we developed a scientifically up date d and regionally adapted multilingual Health Risk Appraisal for Older Persons ( HRA-O ) instrument consisting of a self-administered question naire and software-generated feed-back reports . We evaluated the practicability and performance of the question naire in non-disabled community-dwelling older persons in London ( U.K. ) ( N = 1090 ) , Hamburg ( Germany ) ( N = 804 ) , and Solothurn ( Switzerl and ) ( N = 748 ) in a sub- sample of an international r and omised controlled study . Results Over eighty percent of invited older persons returned the self-administered HRA-O question  naire . Fair or poor self-perceived health status and older age were correlated with higher rates of non-return of the question naire . Older participants and those with lower educational levels reported more difficulty in completing the HRA-O question naire as compared to younger and higher educated persons . However , even among older participants and those with low educational level , more than 80 % rated the question naire as easy to complete . Prevalence rates of risks for functional decline or problems were between 2 % and 91 % for the 19 HRA-O domains . Participants ' intention to change health behaviour suggested that for some risk factors participants were in a pre-contemplation phase , having no short- or medium-term plans for change . Many participants perceived their health behaviour or preventative care uptake as optimal , despite indications of deficits according to the HRA-O based evaluation . Conclusion The HRA-O question naire was highly accepted by a broad range of community-dwelling non-disabled persons . It identified a high number of risks and problems , and provided information on participants ' intention to change health behaviour
Financial incentives may be effective in changing healthcare professional practice .
We found no evidence from review s that examined the effect of financial incentives on patient outcomes
BACKGROUND There is considerable interest in the effectiveness of financial incentives in the delivery of health care .
Incentives may be used in an attempt to increase the use of evidence -based treatments among healthcare professionals or to stimulate health professionals to change their clinical behaviour with respect to preventive , diagnostic and treatment decisions , or both .
Financial incentives are an extrinsic source of motivation and exist when an individual can expect a monetary transfer which is made conditional on acting in a particular way .
Since there are numerous review s performed within the healthcare area describing the effects of various types of financial incentives , it is important to summarise the effectiveness of these in an overview to discern which are most effective in changing health professionals ' behaviour and patient outcomes .
OBJECTIVES To conduct an overview of systematic review s that evaluates the impact of financial incentives on healthcare professional behaviour and patient outcomes .