The physicians’ college says high specialist costs are a symptom of an unhealthy system but is yet to respond on whether greedy specialists are partly to blame.

The Royal Australasian College of Physicians has issued a media release following the publication of a new Grattan Institute report this week that takes aim at “extreme fee chargers” — specialists whose fees are typically three times the average MBS schedule fee.

It stated that the average out-of-pocket cost per consult among endocrinologists, cardiologists and paediatricians levying so-called “extreme fees” was more than $350.

“There is no good reason for these extreme fees,” said the report, called Special Treatment: Improving Australians’ Access to Specialist Care.