Pay-for-performance plans typically

• A. Reward providers for meeting specified quality (and sometimes cost) standard.
• B. They ignore quality metrics.
• C. They reward only volume.
• D. They penalize providers for good outcomes.

Answer: (A)

Pay-for-performance plans tie a portion of reimbursement to achieving predefined quality standards, and they may also target costs. This creates incentives to follow evidence-based guidelines, improve patient outcomes, and use resources efficiently. By rewarding providers for meeting or exceeding specific quality and sometimes cost targets, these plans shift payment away from simply delivering more services toward delivering better value. They’re built on improving care quality, not ignoring metrics or rewarding only volume, and they don’t intend to penalize good outcomes.