Dr. Corporate

During the pandemic the ongoing trend of physicians leaving private practice, where they own the business, for employment by a corporate or hospital accelerated in the US. From January 2019 to January 2022, corporate ownership of physician practices increased from 15% to 27%. At the same time, employment of physicians by hospitals increased to about 58,000. In total, as of January 2019, about 100,000 physicians shifted to employment. Many of the physician practices were acquired by managed care companies such as UnitedHealthcare, Elevance and Centene who are vertically integrating healthcare insurance, pharmacy services and healthcare delivery. Physician advocacy groups have warned that unchecked consolidation will reduce competition, increase costs, undermine innovation and result in an inappropriate mix of corporate interests in the practice of medicine.

Source: Avalere Health (2022), IQVIA (2022).