Tracking managed care: the importance of a cash incentive for medical director response to a survey.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the impact of a monetary incentive in a survey mailed to medical directors of large medical groups and independent practice associations (IPAs).


METHODS
Mailed survey.


METHODS
We mailed a survey to the medical directors of all medical groups and IPAs contracted with Blue Cross California Care, a large California managed care health plan (n = 174). After 2 mailings without any monetary incentive, we included a $50 bill in the third mailing to increase the response rate.


RESULTS
Only 46 medical directors responded to the first and second mailings (response rates of 17% and 13%, respectively). The third mailing, which included a $50 bill attached to the front of the survey, yielded 78 responses (66%), for an overall total of 124 (76%). We found no significant differences in the physician organizations of medical directors who responded to the mailing with the $50 incentive compared with the physician organizations of those who responded to 1 of the first 2 mailings, although medical directors who responded without the financial incentive were more likely to report that their organization had staff for quality assurance (96% vs 82%; P < or = .03).


CONCLUSIONS
Including a $50 bill improved the rate of response to a survey mailed to medical directors from 13%-17% to 66%.
Malin
J L
JL
RAND, Santa Monica, CA. jmalin@mednet.ucla.edu
Rideout
J
J
Ganz
P A
PA
D000368:Aged; D000533:Altruism; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008329:Managed Care Programs / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration; D008875:Middle Aged; D009042:Motivation; D008486:Physician Executives / Q000191:economics* / Q000523:psychology; D012052:Reimbursement, Incentive; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States