Financial incentives for preventative care
Program basics
- Financial incentives such as payments and vouchers used to encourage patients to engage in preventative care, like screenings and vaccinations
- Intended to reduce out-of-pocket costs, provide free services, or reward preventative health behaviors
- Often focused on women with low socioeconomic status, immigrants, and high-risk individuals
Strength of evidence
Evidence level: Proven (highest tier)
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Proven (highest tier)
Ranked as having the highest level of evidence by County Health Rankings and Roadmaps
Target population
Community-wide
Program cost
Not available
Implementation locations
- Nationwide
Dates active
Not available
Outcomes and impact
- Increased preventative care among low-income and high-risk populations
- Increased likelihood of attending appointments or receiving services
- Improved patient use of primary care and increased participation in vaccination programs, certain cancer screenings, and tests
- Increased number of prenatal appointments attended by pregnant teens and can reduce smoking during pregnancy
Keys to successful implementation
- Note: This content is under review
- Programs should incentivize participants to fulfill distinct, well-defined behavioral goals.
- Small financial incentives tend to encourage short-term changes, while larger incentives lead to more sustained efforts and more significant behavioral change.
- Cash incentives appear to be effective in increasing use of primary care among low-income patients.
- Partnerships with behavioral and decision scientists and community health workers can help design scientifically sound and evidence-based programs.
- Adding components like text message-based health interventions and community-wide physical activity programs is likely to positively affect adherence to prescribed treatments.
- Programs should choose areas of focus based on the health concerns of the community they aim to serve.