It’s back in style, writes Richard Reece:

Today, it is specialists and sub-specialists and hospitalists, who are hot when it comes to physician employment. For hospitals, salaried specialists fill a void ““ in-house patient coverage, ER coverage, and prestige in the community.

For the physician, other factors are at work ““ a predictable 40 hour week, which fits the life styles of young or burnt-out physicians, a refuge from the unceasing bureaucratic demands of running a practice and pressures to buy EMRs. Many doctors are saying, “To hell with it, I am going to work for the hospital,” and escape from soaring malpractice costs. For others, there is a genuine desire to collaborate rather then compete with the hospital.