Behavioral economics provides insights about the development of effective incentives for physicians to deliver high-value care. It suggests that the structure and delivery of incentives can shape behavior, as can thoughtful design of the decision-making environment. This article discusses several principles of behavioral economics, including inertia, loss aversion, choice overload, and relative social ranking. Whereas these principles have been applied to motivate personal health decisions, retirement planning, and savings behavior, they have been largely ignored in the design of physician incentive programs. Applying these principles to physician incentives can improve their effectiveness through better alignment with performance goals. Anecdotal examples of successful incentive programs that apply behavioral economics principles are provided, even as the authors recognize that its application to the design of physician incentives is largely untested, and many outstanding questions exist. Application and rigorous evaluation of infrastructure changes and incentives are needed to design payment systems that incentivize high-quality, cost-conscious care.

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This commentary provides a narrative review of the literature focusing on the use of a health care informed consent process in the United States. This article reviews the current positions of the World Medical Association, American Medical Association, American Chiropractic Association, Wisconsin and New Jersey State Courts, US Federal Government Office of Health Policy and Clinical Outcomes, and 1 college of chiropractic regarding the doctrine of informed consent. The authors recommend that the chiropractic profession embrace the doctrine of informed consent and promulgate it as a standard of care. The implementation of this doctrine by chiropractic physicians promotes and improves the safety of chiropractic interventions.

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