Rewarding more efficient and high-quality providers is, according to healthcare experts, the most effective way to cut healthcare costs, a new survey from the Commonwealth Foundation finds.

A majority (57 percent) of respondents to the latest Commonwealth Fund Health Care Opinion Leaders survey, an annual online survey of U.S. experts in healthcare practice and policy, rated pay-for-performance as an extremely or very effective way to reduce healthcare costs. Greater use of evidence-based medicine was ranked a close second, with about half (52 percent) of those surveyed rating it as an extremely or very effective way to reduce costs. Two of five (41 percent) respondents said that streamlining administrative costs — including standardizing insurance products and processes — would be the most effective way to reduce costs, while requiring patients to pay a substantially higher share of healthcare costs was ranked lowest, with fewer than a third of respondents (31 percent) rating it as an extremely or very effective approach.

"Pay-for-performance has been gaining attention as an effective strategy of improving quality of care," said Commonwealth Fund president Karen Davis. "Healthcare opinion leaders view pay-for-performance not just as a way to reward quality but as a strategy to raise efficiency in healthcare delivery."

To read or download a summary of the survey (14 pages, PDF), visit: http://www.cmwf.org/usr_doc/CMWF_Opinion_Leaders_summary.pdf.