Impact of financial incentives for primary care to give long acting reversible contraceptive advice

Background Long acting reversible contraceptives (LARC) are cost-effective but uptake remains poor even in high income settings. In 2009/10, a pay-for-performance (P4P) scheme in the United Kingdom was introduced for primary care physicians to offer advice about LARC to women attending for contraceptive care. We examined the equity and impact of this scheme on LARC uptake and abortions Methods We examined records of women aged 13 to 54 years registered with a primary care practice in the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink from 2004/05 to 2013/14. We used interrupted time series analysis to examine trends in annual LARC and non-LARC hormonal contraception (NLHC) uptake and abortion rates, stratified by age, region and deprivation groups, before and after P4P was introduced in 2009/10. Results LARC uptake among women of all ages increased immediately after P4P with step change of 5.36 per 1,000 women (95% CI 5.26 to 5.45). Largest increase was in women aged 20 to 24 years (8.40, 8.34 to 8.47). NLHC uptake fell in all women with a step change of -22.9 (-24.5 to -21.2). Among LARC methods, contraceptive injection and implant had the greatest increase after P4P; step changes were 1.68 (1.67 to 1.70) and 1.64 (1.63 to 1.65) respectively. Abortion rates fell across all 12 regions in UK and in all women immediately after P4P with a step change of -2.28 (-2.99 to -1.57). The largest falls occurred in women aged 13 to 19 years (step change -5.04, -7.56 to -2.51) and women from the most deprived group (step change -4.40, -6.89 to -1.91). Conclusions Pay-for-performance scheme for primary care physicians to give LARC advice to women attending for contraception was associated with desirable impact and equity of LARC prescriptions and abortion. LARC uptake increased in women of all ages, especially 13-19 and 20-24 years. Abortion rates fell in all UK regions and age groups, particularly 13-19 and 20-24 years and those from deprived quintile. Key messages Pay-for-performance scheme for primary care practitioners to give LARC advice to women attending for contraception was associated with desirable impact and equity of LARC prescriptions and abortion. LARC uptake increased in women of all ages, especially 13-19 and 20-24 years. Abortion rates fell in all UK regions and age groups, particularly 13-19 and 20-24 years and those from deprived quintile.