Recent Publications
- Physician Compensation In Physician-Owned and Hospital-Owned Practices
By Christopher M. Waley, Daniel R. Arnold, Nate Gross, and Anupam B. Jena | Published December 8, 2021 in Health Affairs | Link to Full Article
Physician practices are increasingly being acquired by hospitals and health systems. Despite evidence that this type of vertical integration is profitable for hospitals, the association between these acquisitions and the incomes of physicians in the acquired practices is unknown. We combined national survey data on physician practice ownership with data on physician income to examine whether hospital or health system ownership of physician practices was associated with differences in physician income during 2014–18. During the study period, hospital and health system ownership of physician practices increased by 89.2 percent, from 24.1 percent to 45.6 percent of all physicians in our sample. Among physician practices overall, vertical integration with hospitals or health systems was associated with, on average, 0.8 percent lower income compared with independent physicians after multivariable adjustment. In analyses by physician specialty, vertical integration of physician practices with hospitals or health systems was associated with lower income for nonsurgical specialists, no difference in income for primary care physicians, and slightly higher income for surgical specialists. Although vertical integration of physician practices is a rapidly growing trend, physicians might not directly benefit financially.
Recent Research in the Media
- Richard Scheffler Quoted in CalMatters on Single-Payer Health Care
Harry Snyder (UC Berkeley School of Public Health) advocates for a single-payer system, drawing from Dr. Scheffler’s piece regarding health equity. Read the CalMatters commentary here.
- Modern Healthcare Features Richard Scheffler in Article on Private Equity Lawsuit
California’s ban on the corporate practice of medicine is tested with a lawsuit against Envision Healthcare. Dr. Richard Scheffler calls it a “landmark case” with the first real pushback. Read more here.
- NBC News Cites Petris Study on Private Equity
The detrimental effects of private equity are recently exemplified in a dermatologist’s practice in Michigan, USA.
“The private equity business model is fundamentally incompatible with sound health care that serves patients,” concluded a paper in May co-authored by Richard M. Scheffler, professor of health economics and public policy at the University of California, Berkeley; Laura M. Alexander, the vice president of policy at the American Antitrust Institute, a nonprofit organization; and James R. Godwin, a Ph.D. candidate at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.
Read more here.
- Welcome, Ola!
The Petris Center is pleased to welcome Ola Abdelhadi as our Postdoctoral Scholar! A public health and epidemiology whiz, Dr. Abdelhadi will be working on health care quality and medical expenditures. She will undoubtedly make a valuable addition to our team.
- Richard Scheffler Speaks in PEPC Competition Webinar
Richard Scheffler acted as a panelist at a webinar hosted by the Partnership to Empower Physician-Led Care, an advocacy group promoting value-based care as a path to sustainability for independent physicians and practices. The webinar discussed provider consolidation’s impact on health outcomes and how best to ensure provider competitive behavior instead. Specifically, Dr. Scheffler touched on issues related to increasing private equity investments and vertical integration in healthcare, effects on prices, and next steps at the legislative level.
The title is “Addressing Consolidation in Health Care Markets: The Impact of Provider Consolidation on Cost and Quality.” Take a look here — 10:10 to 27:20.
Petris Director Joins the Better Healthcare Policy Group
