Benefits and costs of pay for performance as perceived by residents: a qualitative study.

Purpose: To describe and interpret pay-for-performance (P4P) systems as perceived by internal medicine residents to develop curricula that relate P4P measures to quality improvement initiatives.

Method: In 2008-2009, the authors conducted a qualitative study in which 97 internal medicine residents completed a mandatory survey soliciting their views of the advantages and disadvantages of P4P. The authors analyzed responses to identify and categorize emergent themes.