Roy Poses MD has posted an insightful, brief, and trenchant look at the trend for new physicians to select specialties other than internal medicine, family practice and the like.

To quote Dr. Poses,

"However, as demonstrated by the issues discussed on this blog, not only are generalists at the bottom of the economic pecking order, they seem particularly impacted by the huge rise in health care bureaucracy, and particularly vulnerable to challenges to physicians' professional values instigated by large organizations lead by leaders with conflicting interests. They will need more than new "chronic care models" to survive these threats."

The continued trend to more highly compensate specialists is driving physicians to select specialties. The root of this is compensation, followed closely by the hassles inherent in today's managed care bureaucracy.

What does this mean for you?

For once, this is simple - the more specialists, the more specialty care, the more expensive the care, the higher the medical expense.