[shabble]

Or doctors see their profit-margins / wages declining, and lower the threshold level for various kinds of specialised testing. So, you complain about a mole or a lump, and instead of a quick diagnostic poke and an "It's probably fine", it's off for an invasive biopsy, "Hmm, the results were inconclusive, better safe than sorry" surgical removal, and maybe a few extra scans for follow-up.

I'm sure that there a many areas where a GP would like to schedule a follow-up, but can't justify it on the current evidence, and lets it slide.

Because there's this level of subjectivity in medicine, any increase in supply can easily be countered by the suppliers pumping up demand, keeping D/S exactly the same.

(I'm not a doctor, although I'm friends with a few)

[kenjackson]

I'd argue this happens today at almost the maximal level they can extract. In fact this was my point earlier. The problem with doctor's is less proficiency, but more ethics. I honestly have more faith in my car mechanic than virtually any doctor I've worked with. I'm not sure how increasing supply can make an already worst problem worse -- except to expose more people to it.