Since 2010, nearly $1 trillion has flooded the U.S. health care system, across multiple specialties, from private equity firms through thousands of deals to acquire hospitals and practices, notes Healio.
Whether this represents a welcome investment, or a hostile takeover, depends on who you ask.
From 2010 to 2021, the number of private equity deals in health care increased from 325 to more than 1,000, while the value of the portfolio companies owned by private equity leveraged buyout funds grew to more than $2.6 trillion. More than half of these investments have been in the United States. In 2021 alone, private equity investments in U.S. health care topped $150 billion.
Historically, much of this activity has been in specialties like anesthesiology, dermatology and ophthalmology. However, more recently, rheumatology has also been attracting its own attention from investors.
