Doctors can help lower hospital costs

Giving doctors cash rewards to reduce hospital spending helps control costs and does not affect quality or patients' access to care, according to a study by researchers at Arizona State University. The study compared six cardiac catheterization labs that implemented a gainsharing program to 123 non-gainsharing labs. Researchers found that gainsharing reduced hospital costs by 7.4%, or $315 per patient. Nationwide use of gainsharing could slash hospital costs for coronary stent patients by about $195 million a year, according to the researchers.