A recent study by physician recruiting firm Merritt Hawkins shows that by 2014, two-thirds of all physicians will be employed at hospitals. The company said that in 2011, only 1 percent of the search requests it received were for solo physicians, as opposed to 22 percent in 2004. 

Primary care physicians are still the most sought-after, according to the survey, and the once-high demand for specialists such as radiologists and anesthesiologists has decreased. 

Travis Singleton, senior vice president with Merritt Hawkins, said in an interview with CNN that many independent physicians are closing down their practices and starting to work for hospitals. The increased cost of health care and declining insurance reimbursements are to blame, Singleton said. 

“It shows that no one wants to hire a solo doctor, no one wants to be a solo doctor,” Singleton said. “This is a dying breed of physician that is quickly disappearing from the American landscape.”