Sometimes, the simplest incentives can produce good results.
Dr. Bangasser mentioned a particularly bad influenza season in 1998, when patients had to wait in long lines to see physicians in his group practice. "I asked all of the doctors if they'd take on two more patients a day. That's a long day, but I gave them two tickets to a movie theater for Christmas."
All but two physicians took on the extra patients. "This meant that over 60 physicians saw an extra 120 patients per day," he said.