Background:

Organizational scholars have been debating over specialism and generalism, and which environment is better for specialists and for generalists.

Methods:

This study relies heavily on the work of Okasha (Okasha, 1995, Modeling the determinants of hospital services differentiation and specialization (Dissertation). Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond) and enhances it with available current literature on the topic. Okasha’s (Modeling the determinants of hospital services differentiation and specialization (Dissertation). Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond) study tested the use of resource partitioning theory to explain the conversion of generalists to specialists under competitive environments.

Results:

The anticipated effect of buyers of care on hospital specialization was evident. Recent work on specialization (Eastaugh, 2014, Journal of Healthcare Finance) confirmed the trend.

Conclusion:

Buyer-related factors and organizational factors were the most important predictors of the positive change in hospital specialization between 1987 and 1993. High competition, the increased pressure from buyers of care, and organizational factors were the most important predictors of the positive change in the hospital specialization measures during that time period.