Incentives and Prevention: Research supported by the NIH Common Fund Health Economics Program
This session highlights research on the economics of prevention supported by the NIH Common Fund Health Economics Program (CFHEP). The CFHEP supports theoretical and applied research to understand how innovations in treatments, diagnosis, and preventive strategies can be most effectively deployed to improve health and wellbeing. Each study in this session won highly competitive CFHEP support for research on incentive-based strategies to encourage more efficient use of preventive services and healthy behaviors. Incentives affecting the private decisions of consumers and providers can lead to under- or over-use of preventive services. Financing and delivery arrangements may create incentives that discourage efficient levels of use. Limited information about effectiveness and costs of specific interventions and individual variation in health outcome risks make it hard to characterize appropriate levels of prevention. Delayed realization of health benefits coupled with costs that are incurred in the present can exacerbate behavioral biases. These and other factors may lead to inefficient use of preventive services. Studies in this session examine diverse strategies for promoting prevention and healthy behaviors. Jody Sindelar presents findings from a study of the differential effectiveness of messages appealing to financial vs. health motivations for smoking cessation in low-income communities. Alison Cuellar presents research on financial incentives for prevention and wellness offered through U.S. employers. Roland Sturm examines a unique program operated by a health insurer in South Africa that incorporates strategies from behavioral economics to promote better use of preventive services. These studies suggest broader insights into more efficient prevention strategies.