Much has been written over the past decade on the supply and demand for anesthesia services, and how it relates either to the acquisition of anesthesia practices or to the direct employment of anesthesia providers by hospital systems. These crosscurrents need to be analyzed in the context of the overall trend in physician services in the United States, reports Anesthesia Business Consultants.
An analysis prepared by Avalere Health provided an in-depth view of overall trends among physician practices. Among the key findings of the analysis, which was conducted over a two-year period between January 1, 2019 and January 1, 2021, were the following:
- 48,400 physicians left independent practices and became employees of hospitals or other corporate entities, with 22,700 of those physicians moving after the onset of Covid-19.
- 18,600 became hospital employees (11,400 made the shift after the onset of Covid-19)
- 29,800 became employees of corporate entities (11,300 made the shift after the onset of Covid-19)
- Over the two-year study period this shift resulted in a 12 percent increase of employed physicians.
- Importantly, the study indicated that 69.3 percent of all U.S. physicians were either employed by hospitals or corporate entities as of January 2021, versus 62.2 percent as of January 2019.
- Interestingly, the study indicated that as of January 2021, 49 percent of all U.S. physicians were employed by hospitals and health systems and 20 percent of U.S. physicians were employed by corporate entities.
Avalere’s analysis well documents the national trend in the consolidation of physician practices and the increasing momentum from independent practices to employed models—clearly exacerbated by the economic dislocations associated with the pandemic. Read more.
