http://healthcare-economist.com/2007/10/08/more-physician-assistants-prefer-working-in-specialty-fields-over-the-primary-care-setting/ An unbiased look at today's health care issues Tue, 02 Dec 2008 08:41:58 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.5 http://healthcare-economist.com/2007/10/08/more-physician-assistants-prefer-working-in-specialty-fields-over-the-primary-care-setting/#comment-87458 jay Sat, 13 Oct 2007 01:59:37 +0000 http://healthcare-economist.com/2007/10/08/more-physician-assistants-prefer-working-in-specialty-fields-over-the-primary-care-setting/#comment-87458 The reasons for this are probably the same as the reasons for physicians abandoning primary care. Over time the pay differential between specialty work and primary care work has expanded to the point where those for whom pay is a key element in career choice-as it usually is for heavily indebted MD or PA graduates-specialty work is the obvious choice. In clinical work, the vendors have no pricing power. Scarcity in primary care does not readily translate into a scarcity value in money terms. Insurers and especially medicare present a take-it-or-leave-it fee scale. Specialty work is more highly paid on a $/time spent basis. Surgeons and radiologists now earn triple what a pediatrician or family practice doc earns and so can pay their PAs far better than the primary care doc can. This is a no brainer for any PA. The reasons for this are probably the same as the reasons for physicians abandoning primary care. Over time the pay differential between specialty work and primary care work has expanded to the point where those for whom pay is a key element in career choice-as it usually is for heavily indebted MD or PA graduates-specialty work is the obvious choice. In clinical work, the vendors have no pricing power. Scarcity in primary care does not readily translate into a scarcity value in money terms. Insurers and especially medicare present a take-it-or-leave-it fee scale. Specialty work is more highly paid on a $/time spent basis. Surgeons and radiologists now earn triple what a pediatrician or family practice doc earns and so can pay their PAs far better than the primary care doc can. This is a no brainer for any PA.

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