Private equity acquisitions of physician practices up sixfold in a decade: Report

Physician practice acquisitions involving private equity firms have increased by more than six times over the past 10 years, according to data from the American Antitrust Institute's report "Monetizing Medicine: Private Equity and Competition in Physician Practice Markets."

The report analyzed acquisitions across ten physician specialties: dermatology, ophthalmology, gastroenterology, primary care, OB/GYN, radiology, orthopedics, oncology, urology and cardiology.

Here are 10 other takeaways from the report that physicians should know:

1. Private equity acquisitions of outpatient clinics rose from 354 to 484 deals between 2020 and 2021, a 37 percent increase.
2. The largest number of deals from 2012 to 2021 involved dermatology practices, with 376 practices being acquired.
3. Dermatology, ophthalmology, gastroenterology and primary care accounted for 81 percent of acquisitions from 2012 to 2021.
4. A single private equity firm had more than 30 percent market share by full-time-equivalent physicians in 28 percent of metropolitan statistical areas.
5. A single private equity firm had more than 50 percent market share by full-time-equivalent physicians in 13 percent of metropolitan statistical areas.
6. Private equity acquisitions were associated with price increases in 8 out of 10 physician specialties.
7. Price increases were highest in markets where one private equity firm had control over more than 30 percent of the market.
8. Price increases were the highest among oncology practice acquisitions, at 16.4 percent.
9. Private equity acquisitions led to increases in per-patient spending in 6 out of 10 physician specialties.
10. Per-patient spending increases were the highest among gastroenterology practices, at 16.4 percent.