Objectives: To put forth the concept of highly specialized medical care, in agreement with the nature of its practice, and evaluate the feasibility of creating a support service network.
Methods: Qualitative study of the current practice and requirements for 39 selected medical specialties, using the technique of focused groups of experts in each specialty. In accordance with the "Grounded Theory", variables were systematized and categorized and then compared in order to identify relationships between categories and link them to consensus testimonial references. On the basis of the characteristics of each kind of practice, one key expert integrated and validated service portfolios.
Results: We developed an integrated a concept for highly specialize medical care with 39 operational catalogs of those diagnoses that belong to each specialty, along with catalogs of the resources required by each specialty.
Conclusions: Highly specialized care is a desirable model for clinical practice, but does not constitute a different level of care. Currently, medical practice is constrained by the lack of well-defined boundaries and scarcity of resources in order to be conceptualized as high specialty. It is therefore more convenient to strengthen the concept of third level of care in order to identify opportunities for the establishment of high specialty areas that will in turn serve as the focal points for medical innovation.