TY - JOUR T1 - The development of prescribing incentive schemes in primary care: a longitudinal survey. JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 468 LP - 470 VL - 53 IS - 491 AU - Mark Ashworth AU - Robert Lea AU - Heather Gray AU - Hugh Gravelle AU - Azeem Majeed Y1 - 2003/06/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/53/491/468.abstract N2 - Primary Care Groups and Trusts in England (Primary Care Organisations, or PCOs) are required to operate a prescribing incentive scheme. Little is known about their development since their inception in 1999. We surveyed incentive schemes in London and the South-East NHS Regions in the two consecutive years since 1999. Most of the changes to the incentives and prescribing indicators favoured improvements in prescribing quality, rather than cost control. Quality improvements may be hampered in those PCOs offering financial rewards to underspent general practices that fail to achieve any prescribing quality targets. ER -