Abstract
Audit and feedback is used as a strategy to guide practices of health care professionals towards certain targets. The outcome of interest can be quality improvements, but also ensuring that health care workers adhere to relevant regulations. We conducted a nationwide field experiment in the Norwegian primary care sector to study the behavioral responses from giving general practitioners feedback (GPs) on their claiming of fees. The email-based feedback intervention targeted GPs who most frequently claimed fees for double consultations and provided them with a reminder of the formal regulations for double consultations. The intervention caused a 2-5 percentage point reduction in the use of the double-consultation fee, reducing the yearly health care spending of the Norwegian government by approximately €877 000 (or €1 270 per GP).
JEL-Classification: C93, H40, I11, J33, L15
Keywords: Physician payment system; Field experiment; Performance disclosure; Fee-for service; Information and product quality
ISBN: 978-82-7756-272-8