Les effets multiformes du paiement à l’acte sur les revenus des généralistes. Les enseignements de quelques études économétriques pour la France

This article offers a synthesis of current knowledge concerning the income of doctors in France. Drawing on econometric studies of a representative panel of general practitioners, it examines the influence of fee-for-service payment on their health care supply behaviour and on outpatient medicine regulation. The authors highlight the crucial impact of local medical density on doctors’ income : sharp discrepancies according to the district or region, supply-induced demand, lasting influence of medical demography when a doctor settles in a new area (depending on numerous clausus fluctuations). On the other hand, as independent operators, private doctors enjoy considerable freedom in terms of work schedules, as shown by their atypical and widely discrepant income profiles. Finally, factoring in the lengthy medical studies that doctors have to follow in their youth, the authors show that their cumulative comparable earnings over their entire career are comparable to those of senior managers in the private sector.