Objective: Describing the extent and forms of use of pay for performance (P4P) in Colombian healthcare.
Methods: This was a descriptive study based on interviews and surveys of health insurance agency managers in Bogotá, Colombia. The authors relied on transaction cost theory to interpret the results.
Results: P4P was found to be used by contribution scheme insurers in an outpatient setting, basically in promotion and prevention; P4P is not being used in a hospital setting. Subsidized scheme insurers do not use P4P. Similarly, P4P is not being used in the case of so called associated users.
Conclusions: P4P use in Colombia is limited. Colombian practice only partially validates the transaction costs theory approach to governance model attributes, one of which is incentive intensity.