When it comes to private equity investment in physician practices, variations exist across geographic regions and medical specialties, according to research announced by the National Institute for Health Care Management Foundation this week, MedPage Today reports
Of the six specialties reviewed, the proportion of physicians working in private equity-acquired practices was highest in dermatology (7.5%) and gastroenterology (7.4%), and in the Northeast region (6.8%), reported Yashaswini Singh, MPA, of Bloomberg School of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and colleagues.
Other specialties that saw a higher percentage of physicians working in private equity-acquired practices included urology (6.5%), ophthalmology (5.1%), obstetrics and gynecology (4.7%), and orthopedics (1.9%), the team noted in JAMA Health Forum.
While private equity penetration was highest in the Northeast, it was lowest in the Midwest (3.8%). The states that had the highest private equity penetration were Arizona (17.5%), New Jersey (13.6%), Maryland (13.1%), Connecticut (12.6%), and Florida (10.8%). Washington, D.C., had the highest penetration of all areas, at 18.2%. Read more.
