Evaluation of the effects of the French pay-for-performance program-IFAQ pilot study.

Objective: Most studies showed no or little effect of pay-for-performance (P4P) programs on different outcomes. In France, the P4P program IFAQ was generalized to all acute care hospitals in 2016. A pilot study was launched in 2012 to design, implement and assess this program.

Identification of appropriate and potentially avoidable emergency department referrals in a tertiary cancer care center.

Purpose: Referrals to the Emergency Department can be distressing to patients with advanced cancer and may be a non-optimizing health care service. We aimed to describe the appropriateness and potential avoidability of Emergency Department referrals in a tertiary cancer care center where only physician referrals are allowed.

Methods: We prospectively reviewed the electronic medical charts of patients consecutively checked into the Emergency Department in August 2015.

Implementing hospital pay-for-performance: Lessons learned from the French pilot program.

Despite a wide implementation of pay-for-performance (P4P) programs, evidence on their impact in hospitals is still limited. Our objective was to assess the implementation of the French P4P pilot program (IFAQ1) across 222 hospitals. The study consisted of a questionnaire among four leaders in each enrolled hospital, combined with a qualitative analysis based on 33 semi-structured interviews conducted with staff in four participating hospitals.