Historically, physicians’ offices were relatively small and owned by the physicians themselves. But as the medical business becomes more complex and more insurance companies negotiate prices with doctors, this model is rapidly declining. Nearly 70% of all doctors will be employed by hospitals or businesses by 2021, according to one study. Recent analysis From the Physician Advocacy Institute.
“We’re seeing a fundamental shift in how health care is practiced in the United States,” said Richard Scheffler, professor of health economics and public policy at Berkeley and director of the Petris Center.
Hospitals and insurance companies also bought out many independent doctors’ practices. Optum, a division of the publicly traded UnitedHealth Group, is also one of the nation’s largest insurers and employs about 70,000 doctors. Studies have shown that such concentrated ownership of physicians in certain markets is also associated with issues such as: higher price.
Private equity is often viewed by doctors as an attractive alternative to having their practice bought out by a hospital. Lisa Walsh, national managing principal of professional services firm Grant Thornton, said doctors are growing in size and efficiency, including administrative and technical support. said. “It may be a very good thing, but private equity firms have to keep their promises and be held accountable,” she said.
Private equity firms “provide the scale that allows independent start-up groups to survive and maintain their autonomy,” said Michael Kroyne, founder and chief executive of Physician Growth Partners, a Chicago-based firm that advises independent start-ups. there is,” he said. Given rising costs and pressure from insurers, if possible, “any independent organization would want to raise their fees,” he said.
The private equity industry is beginning to come under particular scrutiny from academics and policy makers.Under consideration by congressmen law Require more reporting when a company acquires a healthcare company. Acquisition tracking can be difficult today. The authors of the new paper used data on transactions from a company called PitchBook to match doctors in a medical claims database to measure payments from private health insurance companies.
The researchers weren’t sure whether the increased payments they measured were due to doctors performing more complex procedures or simply negotiating higher prices, but most of the effect was I thought that was explained by the price.
