Disclosure of physician incentives: do practices satisfy purposes?

Under legal pressure, discussion has quickly shifted from whether health plans should disclose how they pay their physicians to how, when, and what should be disclosed and by whom. This paper describes health plans' disclosure practices and evaluates their adequacy and likely impact. It begins by explaining how different reasons for disclosure alter the form and content of disclosure, illustrating these approaches with actual examples. The paper concludes with a recommended approach that attempts to layer and stage disclosures so that people have as much information as they want, when they need it.