Paying for performance in diagnostic imaging: current challenges and future prospects.

As concerns regarding medical errors and patient safety continue to escalate, policy makers and purchasers of care are developing novel methods to improve health care quality. One strategy for encouraging quality improvement uses financial incentives to reward physicians and hospitals for meeting or exceeding benchmarks of quality. This model, known as "paying for performance," is currently being implemented in a number of health care markets. Although most of these programs focus on primary care physicians and hospital care, it is only a matter of time until pay-for-performance incentives will be designed for diagnostic imaging groups. This article describes the pay-for-performance model and discusses its implications for the field of radiology.