Effect of Income Distribution Method on Equilibrium Price in Medical Group Practice: Executive Summary

摘要

The dissertation investigates the effect of the method of distributing income among group practice physicians on price. It has been proposed that productivity-based income distribution systems in medical group practice overcome the inefficiencies inherent in groups. The author develops theoretical models which take account of quantity and quality variation due to productivity-based reimbursement. The model predicts that basing physician income strictly on productivity can lead to higher prices and a greater than optimal level of quality. The hypotheses generated from these models are then tested empirically using the 1978 Mathematical survey of 957 group practices.