Pediatric sub-specialties draw top dollar. (Short Takes: News at Deadline).

A sudden rise in compensation is being seen among the ranks of pediatric sub-specialists, according to research by the health care search firm, Cejka and Company "Almost overnight, pediatric sub-specialists including anesthesiologists, surgeons, cardiologists and neurologists have become some of the most sought after and best compensated physicians," says Ron Fasnacht, senior vice president and managing principal of the St Louis-based firm.

Many of Cejka's hospital clients, especially academic institutions that tend to offer lower salaries than private hospitals and clinics, are surprised to learn that the $150,000 to $180,000 they initially budget to recruit a pediatric anesthesiologist falls well short of the going rate.

Fasnacht says academic hospitals are now offering salaries of a minimum of $200,000 to pediatric anesthesiologists and some are going as high as $275,000. In a private practice, pediatric anesthesiologists may earn as much as $400,000.

Other pediatric sub-specialists are being offered comparably lofty sums.

"One reason (for the higher salaries) is consumer demand spurred by easy access to information on the Internet," Fasnacht says. "For instance, parents with a child who needs surgery are increasingly aware of the existence of pediatric sub-specialists and now insist that the surgeon and anesthesiologist performing the operation be specially trained to treat children."

Hospitals in the most competitive markets are eager to give those parents what they want, he adds. To cope with reduced reimbursement rates from the federal government and an oversupply of beds, many hospitals are introducing new pediatric service lines to maximize their patient censuses, he says.