Within the Discussion Board area, write 600–800 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions by your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your ideas.

• Discuss the concept of pay-for-performance (P4P) initiatives and the role they may or may not have in improving health care quality.
• Additionally, explain and discuss some of the challenges and concerns that surround P4P to improve quality and reduce health care costs.

The use of at least 2–3 scholarly references to support your argument is expected in APA style.

Answer preview

Although P4P initiatives aim to improve the quality of healthcare and reduce healthcare costs, it has several concerns and challenges. First, some physicians may misuse therapies that are rewarded financially, causing more harm to patients. For instance, a physician may administer antibiotic drugs unnecessarily, which can lead to antibiotics resistance. Also, physicians may avoid some patients who have complicated illnesses. Critical patients may be denied survival or recovery chances because they are not likely to give faster outcomes (Kyeremanteng, Robidoux, D’Egidio, Fernando, & Neilipovitz, 2019). Another thing is that P4P can lead to unfairness in the workplace, which can lead to distrust and animosity. For example, a manager can favor some of the workers to get benefits, while leaving others, which can trigger animosity. Another concern is that P4P is associated with costs for measuring outcomes and in the bonuses given to professionals, which leads to increased healthcare costs.

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