title: Randomized trial of $20 versus $50 incentives to increase physician survey response rates.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent experiences of survey researchers suggest that physicians are becoming less willing to complete surveys.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare response rates to a mailed physician survey with a prepaid check incentive of $20 versus $50.
  
  
  METHODS
  Randomized controlled trial.
  
  
  METHODS
  Five hundred seventy-eight physicians caring for patients with lung or colorectal cancer in northern California.
  
  
  METHODS
  Proportion of physicians responding to the survey.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Overall, 60.0% of physicians responded to the survey. The response rate was 52.1% for physicians who received a $20 check versus 67.8% for physicians who received a $50 check (P < 0.001). Similar differences in response rates were seen in strata by physician sex, year graduated from medical school, and survey version (all P < 0.001). More than 42% of physicians who received a $50 check responded to the first mailing, compared with only 30.8% of those who received a $20 check (P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Among physicians caring for patients with lung cancer or colorectal cancer in northern California, a $50 check incentive was much more effective than a $20 check incentive at increasing response rates to a mailed survey. As physicians become increasingly burdened with surveys, larger incentives may be necessary to engage potential respondents and thus maximize response rates.
authors.affiliation: Division of General Internal Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. keating@hcp.med.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Nancy L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Keating
authors.forename: Alan M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Zaslavsky
authors.forename: Judy
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Goldstein
authors.forename: Dee W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: West
authors.forename: John Z
authors.initials: JZ
authors.lastname: Ayanian
mesh_terms: D002140:California; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male; D008511:Medicine; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians'; D012052:Reimbursement, Incentive / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013038:Specialization; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires