In 1999, 59 percent of primary care visits were to primary care physicians and 41 percent to specialists, such as internal medicine subspecialists, OB/GYNs or other specialty physicians.
These figures did not change significantly from 1999 to 2007, with 58.8 percent of primary care visits to primary care physicians and 41.2 percent to specialists in the latter time period.
Furthermore, in 2007, specialists treated 42.8 percent of primary care visits for “common symptoms and diseases.” These include visits for fever, nasal congestion, anemia and asthma. Specialists also treated more than 28 percent of patient visits for general medical examinations.
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