Nudging Physicians to Reduce Quetiapine Prescribing Using Medicare Letters: Following the Letters of the Law?

Physician decision making is an integral part of nearly every aspect of health care delivery. However, because physicians must synthesize large and growing amounts of clinical data and medical evidence,¹ they frequently rely on heuristics (mental shortcuts) that may lead to predictably irrational decisions. Consequently, improving the value of health care may hinge in part on the ability to improve clinical decision making, particularly where medical evidence clearly identifies appropriate choices. This is the premise behind physician-focused nudges, or interventions that leverage insights from behavioral economics to deliberately adjust how information is presented to physicians to improve their choices.