Aligning Incentives, Information, and Choice

Why would someone intentionally gain forty pounds in four months? Why are over thirty percent of doctor visits for reasons that the American Medical Association recommends against? Why would the size of someone's bonus pay affect his or her interest in health? Incentives, that's why. Incentives are imbedded into the rules and structures of our social systems, businesses, communities, and healthcare programs. Similar to the force of gravity, incentives pull behaviors in a particular direction. Maybe you don't pay attention to incentives now-after reading this, we think you will.

Wendy D. Lynch, Ph.D. has led a successful twenty-year career as an educator, researcher, and consultant. She holds a Ph.D. in research and evaluation methodology from the University of Colorado and has held several academic positions, including assistant professor in the department of family medicine at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center. In addition to practicing medicine, Dr. Harold Gardner has contributed to improvements in health promotion, preventive medicine services, education for health professionals, and healthcare policy for the last thirty-five years. His primary focus today is providing new health economics research information on how to fix the healthcare cost and quality problem.