Re-examining the roles of generalists and specialists in healthcare.

Abstract

Increasing workload and case complexity of a multimorbid ageing population have catalysed primary care transformation for general practitioners to meet these challenges. There is also a need to re-examine the role of hospital specialists as overly disease-centric, hospital-based specialist care is no longer sustainable. A new specialist-generalist model can maximise the potential of generalists and specialists to provide person-centred care, increase cost-effectiveness, improve appropriateness of referrals, decrease length of hospital stay and lower mortality.