Early Experience with Pay-for-Performance: In 2003, PacifiCare implemented its Quality Improvement Program (QIP) and began paying its California-based medical groups bonuses based on meeting or exceeding quality service targets, three of which related to cervical cancer screening, mammography and hemoglobin A1c testing. Results of a study to assess the impact of the QIP on quality-of-care show that compared to physician groups that were not exposed to the QIP, physicians exposed to the QIP demonstrated greater quality improvement only in the area of cervical cancer screening.

*The difference between quality improvement scores for the California Physicians and Pacific Northwest Physicians is only statistically significant for cervical cancer screening.
Source: Rosenthal, MB et al. (2005) Journal of the American Medical Association