Why Follow the Incentive
Why the series starts with incentives, and what following them reveals about how healthcare rewards performance.
In the Toolbox ↗Audio forthcoming
THE BOLAND TOOLBOXHEALTHCARE · AN ELEVEN-PART SERIES
Follow the
Incentives
Paid to Grow, Not to Heal
How hospital executive pay is set, and what it would take to tie it to maternal health outcomes.
THE QUESTION BEHIND THE SERIES
From stated priorities
to measurable accountability.
This series examines the relationship between executive compensation and patient outcomes, using maternal health as a test case. It asks what boards, health plans, employers and state agencies can change in the way healthcare rewards performance.
The Toolbox brings the analysis and its supporting materials together: institutional examples, benchmark tables, a model board resolution and a framework for follow-through.
Access Peter’s introductionARTICLES & SUPPORTING MATERIALS
Access the Boland Toolbox.
Enter your name and email to open the collection in Google Drive.
The Toolbox brings together the eleven-part series and its supporting materials for readers examining healthcare incentives, maternal health and board accountability.
Companion podcast recordings will be added as they become available.
After you submit, you’ll be directed to the Toolbox folder in Google Drive.
THE ARTICLE LIBRARY
Follow the argument.
Eleven connected articles, available in the Toolbox.
Browse the subjects below.
The Bonus for Doing Nothing
What executive compensation rewards, and where maternal health fits in the incentive structure.
In the Toolbox ↗Audio forthcoming
The Proof: It's Already Being Done
Institutional examples from Penn Medicine, Geisinger, Cleveland Clinic, Elevance Health and HCA.
In the Toolbox ↗Audio forthcoming
Why Doing Everything Right on Paper Still Isn't Enough
Why incentive size and the distinction between process measures and patient outcomes matter.
In the Toolbox ↗Audio forthcoming
Inside the Resolution
A practical examination of category weights, outcome measures, verification and board governance.
In the Toolbox ↗Audio forthcoming
What Washington Is (Barely) Doing
Federal maternal health efforts, their limitations and the decisions that remain with boards.
In the Toolbox ↗Audio forthcoming
The Policy Ground Shifted
An examination of federal policy changes and the case for an outcome-based approach.
In the Toolbox ↗Audio forthcoming
Who Else Has Leverage?
The roles of state Medicaid agencies, employers, health plans, accreditors and public rankings.
In the Toolbox ↗Audio forthcoming
What We Can't Actually Verify
The difference between reconstructed compensation estimates and independently verified evidence.
In the Toolbox ↗Audio forthcoming
The Myth of the Industry Standard
Variation in executive pay and incentive design, and the limits of claims about best practice.
In the Toolbox ↗Audio forthcoming
Now Follow Through on the Evidence
A synthesis of the series, with proposed actions for boards, health plans, employers and states.
In the Toolbox ↗Audio forthcoming
FROM ANALYSIS TO DISCUSSION
The boardroom
materials.
Supporting material for examining an incentive plan, comparing approaches and framing a board discussion.
Model governance language is for discussion and adaptation. Review with qualified legal counsel before use.
GOVERNANCE · PART 5Model resolution & KPI frameworkCategory weights, payout architecture, verification and model board language.
COMPARISON · PART 3Representative system benchmarksFive institutional examples, with distinctions between incentive structures.
EVIDENCE · PART 9Data reliability & disclosureSource vintage, reconstructed estimates and the limits of public information.
SYNTHESIS · PART 11Executive summary & next stepsThe series findings, proposed actions and implications for decision-makers.
READ. LISTEN. CONSIDER.
Continue the conversation.
Written analysis and recorded discussion,
organized around the same questions.
THE PODCASTSeries recordings forthcoming
More Health,
Less Healthcare
Peter’s conversations with healthcare leaders provide a companion to the written work. Recordings for this series will be added to the Toolbox alongside the relevant articles.
Visit the podcastTHE SUBSTACK COLUMNPublication forthcoming
The analysis,
as it develops.
The Substack column will provide a serial reading path through the research. The Toolbox will remain a place to return to the articles and supporting materials.
Access the introductory letter
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Peter Boland, PhD
Bestselling Author and Healthcare Strategist
Peter Boland, PhD, author, speaker, consultant and expert witness has worked in private and public health sectors for 45 years as an advocate for industry redirection. His sixth book, The Health Equity Case Studies Handbook, December 2025, documents the gains made from investing in social health infrastructure. Dr. Boland’s weekly podcast More Health, Less Healthcare interviews healthcare leaders to explore what works and how to change what doesn’t.
More about Peter’s work