Male doctors are shying away from general care and eyeing specialties such as cardiology and dermatology, according to a report from the Center for Studying Health System Change.
The study shows that the number of specialist doctors has increased significantly, while general care doctors and surgeons have declined during the past decade.
Among doctors who provide direct patient care at least 20 hours a week, the study found that specialists grew from 32.2% in 1996-97 to 37.6% in 2004-05. The number of primary care doctors fell from 38.9% to 36.7%, while surgeons declined from 28.9% to 25.7%.
Other findings:
– Since 1996-97, a 40% hike in female general care doctors offset a 16% fall in male general care doctors. More than one in three general doctors were women in 2004-05. Only 22% of women were specialists, while 17% were surgeons.
– Gaps continue to exist between men and women when it comes to salaries. In 2003, female general care doctors reported net income of $114,316, some 30% below the $162,934 for men.
The study also showed persistent gender gaps between male and female doctors even after accounting for several factors, including specialty, years of experience, board certification, proportions of Medicaid versus insured work, and practice ownership status.
“If real incomes for primary care physicians continue to decline, there is a risk that the migration of male physicians will intensify and that female physicians may begin avoiding primary care,trends that could aggravate a predicted shortage of primary care physicians,” said Paul Ginsburg, the center’s director, in a release.
– Another factor that has helped mask the shift is continued reliance on international medical graduates, who now account for about 24% of doctors in the general care workforce, the center said.
Orange County is one of 12 communities that the Washington, D.C.-based center, a nonprofit funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, studies as part of its examination of the country’s healthcare industry.
CEO Will
Michael Will has been named to the newly-created post of chief executive of Pegasus Biologics Inc., an Irvine maker of implants used to repair muscles, tendons and other soft tissue.
Before coming to Pegasus, Will was senior vice president of Synthes Spine, a unit of Swiss medical device maker Synthes Inc. His career also includes 21 years at U.S. Surgical, which had been part of Princeton, N.J.-based Tyco International Ltd. until it spun off its healthcare unit in late June.
Pegasus, which started in 2003, makes collagen implants to fix soft tissue after spine surgery, sports injuries or other conditions. It makes the implants from horse collagen.
The company most recently made news in May, when it raised $20 million in a third round of funding. It’s raised a total of $32 million. The most recent round was led by Onset Ventures of Menlo Park. Other investors included Affinity Capital Management of Minneapolis, Three Arch Partners of Menlo Park and Seattle’s Frazier Healthcare Ventures.
“The company has grown significantly since our last round, so we needed to raise another round to grow our business,” said founder and President France Dixon Helfer earlier this year.
Clarient Pens Deal
Clarient Inc., an Aliso Viejo-based developer of cancer treatments, said it signed a contract known as a “technology acquisition alliance” with Utek Corp., a Tampa, Fla.-based specialty finance company. Terms weren’t disclosed.
Utek assists companies in enhancing their product pipelines. It works with them to get proprietary patents and intellectual capital from universities and laboratory research centers.
Clarient will use the deal to acquire technology that will help it bring its cancer and other diagnostic testing products to the market for healthcare providers and the biopharmaceutical industry, Chief Executive Ronald Andrews said in a release.
Genie Cleared
The Food and Drug Administration cleared San Clemente-based ICU Medical Inc.’s Genie device, which protects healthcare workers from the effects of handling chemotherapy drugs.
Genie is ICU Medical’s first closed vial access device. It eliminates aerosols, vapors and leaks caused by pressurization when working with drug vials.
Investors liked Genie. UCI’s shares jumped as high as 7.4% on the news in early June.
Retigabine Application
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International, an Aliso Viejo drug company, said it appointed Parexel International Corp. of Boston to develop, coordinate and prepare a new drug application to the FDA for retigabine, an epilepsy drug.
Valeant expects to file the applications for retigabine, which it acquired two years ago, in 2008.
