Unanswered questions on private equity in gastroenterology

Unanswered questions on private equity in gastroenterology
JAMA Network; by Jane M. Zhu; 6/25
A growing literature on private equity (PE) acquisitions of physician practices has found associated increases in health care prices and utilization, but evidence specific to gastroenterology remains relatively new despite the specialty being a popular target for PE. More than 1 in 8 gastroenterology practices are now owned by PE, with practice fragmentation, lucrative procedural reimbursements, and an aging population factoring into continuing investor interest... Taken together with observations of increased utilization, there may be 2 interpretations of the data presented by Arnold and colleagues. One interpretation of the findings may be that PE acquisition may focus on reducing inefficiencies, improving access by expanding practice capacity, and increasing throughput. Another interpretation may be that PE acquisition is focused on the strategic exploitation of market and pricing power. The latter may have less of an impact on clinical measures like quality of care, but potentially, both strategies could be at play.
Publisher's note: Similar questions being asked across hospice, gastroenterology, physician practices, and other areas of healthcare.