Removal of Financial Incentives Trial: ACCEPt-able

• Unit Head
  Professor Jane Hocking

  jhocking@unimelb.edu.au
  +61 3 8344 0762

Project Details

PROJECT OVERVIEW
Removal of Financial Incentives Trial:ACCEPt-able is a factorial randomised trial that aims to investigate whether the removal of financial incentives and or audit plus feedback impacts on GP’s chlamydia testing performance.

The trial protocol was published in Implementation Science (Hocking JS, Temple-Smith M, van Driel M, Law M, Guy R, Bulfone L, Wood A, Low N, Donovan B, Fairley CK, Kaldor J, Gunn J. Can preventive care activities in general practice be sustained when financial incentives and external audit plus feedback are removed? ACCEPt-able: a cluster randomised controlled trial protocol. Implementation Science 2016; 11:122.) (ACTRN12614000595617)

PROJECT SUMMARY
Financial incentives and external audit plus feedback are designed to motivate General Practitioners (GP) to change their clinical behaviour with the intention of improving the quality of care. Financial incentives are widely used at a significant cost to the Australian Government. Audit plus feedback is a key component of Quality Improvement and Continuing Professional Development Programs. To date, there is little empirical evidence about the impact of removing financial incentives and/or audit plus feedback on professional performance once they are in place.

We have the unique opportunity to re-randomise GPs participating in an ongoing chlamydia screening trial, to investigate whether chlamydia testing rates are sustained when incentive payments and/or feedback are removed. Financial incentive payments and audit and feedback reports were major componants of the chlamydia screening intervention. By re-randomising 59 eligible intervention practices from the trial into one of four intervention groups (incentive payments only; audit and feedback only; both incentive payments and audit and feedback; no incentive payments/no audit and feedback) we are able to investigate whether the removal of financial incentives and or audit plus feedback impacts on GPs' chlamydia testing performance. This trial has been conducted over 36 months involving 59 general practices (approx. 500 GPs) in QLD, NSW, VIC and SA.  Results are due early 2018.

Researchers

Professor Jane Hocking

Alaina Vaisey

Michelle King

Collaborators

Department of General Practice

The Kirby Institute

The University of Queensland

University of Bern – Switzerland

Deakin University

Funding

National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Opportunities

This research project is available to Honours students to join as part of their thesis.
Please contact the Research Group Leader to discuss your options.

Research Publications

Hocking JS, Temple-Smith M, van Driel M, et al. Can preventive care activities in general practice be sustained when financial incentives and external audit plus feedback are removed? ACCEPt-able: a cluster randomised controlled trial protocol. Implementation Science 2016; 11:122.

Jane S. Hocking, Anna Wood, Meredith Temple-Smith, Sabine Braat, Matthew Law, Liliana Bulfone, Callum Jones, Mieke van Driel, Christopher K. Fairley, Basil Donovan, Rebecca Guy, Nicola Low, John Kaldor, Jane Gunn: The impact of removing financial incentives and/or audit and feedback on chlamydia testing in general practice: A cluster randomised controlled trial (ACCEPt-able). January 4, 2022 https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003858