The role of private equity has increased markedly in recent years, and the consequences of that change are adversely affecting graduate medical education, according to an AMA Council on Medical Education report whose recommendations were adopted at the 2022 AMA Interim Meeting in Honolulu.
The 2019 closing of Philadelphia’s Hahnemann University Hospital is one glaring example of the potential adverse consequences. The closure by a for-profit ownership temporarily left nearly 600 resident and fellow physicians without an accredited graduate medical education (GME) program to continue their training. From 2015 to 2019, the number of investor-owned, for-profit community hospitals in the U.S. rose 19% to more than 1,200 hospitals, the AMA council’s report noted.
Additionally, private equity ownership of teaching hospitals can affect residents and fellows’ ability to qualify for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF), which is restricted to nonprofit and publicly owned entities.
In an effort to address the potential pitfalls of private equity ownership of GME institutions, the AMA House of Delegates adopted new policy to:
Affirm that an institution or medical education training program academic mission should not be compromised by a clinical training site’s fiduciary responsibilities to an external corporate or for-profit entity.
Support publicly funded independent research on the impact that private equity has on graduate medical education. Read more.
