Can cash for clinics snuff out smoking?

Minneapolis Star Tribune, October 14, 2008

A new study from the University of Minnesota and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota says a bonus can help entice doctors to make referrals to a hot line. As an experiment, Blue Cross offered to pay medical clinics for referring smokers to a stop-smoking hot line, with clinics receiving up to $100 per referral. In less than a year, those clinics referred nearly three times as many smokers to the hot line as those that didn't get the bonuses (11% vs. 4%), according to the study.