Physician Compensation

So funny you wrote about what doctors do and maybe should get paid. I was just thinking about his issue yesterday, but from a slightly different angle. I was wondering more about why cardiologists, dermatologists, and radiologists get paid so much more than PCP's. I mean, its one or two more years of clinical training but lots more money. No one has addressed why these lifestyle fields are compensated so much more. It's not necessarily because they're better or more valuable to the broader society, and you could argue that primary care is more important than another radiologist. There is much more salary parity in places like the UK and Canada, which is why there are so many more PCPs in socialized nations. Obviously this disparity has to do with how medical care is reimbursed (procedures vs. office visits, curative vs. prevenative care, etc). There are lots of health policy implications to physician reimbursement, especially with regards to the push for medical homes. Check out this interesting pilot in Arizona. They're actually (eek) paying people for preventative care...

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/07/business/07medhome.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=medical%20homes&st=cse