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We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact customerservice@slackinc.com. Back to Healio Key takeaways: The ACP and AMA have clarified their positions on private equity and corporate pushes into health care. The organizations call for greater transparency and guardrails to protect physicians and patients alike. On the heels of a rise in private equity-owned practices, which can create unique challenges for physicians, major medical organizations have called for greater transparency and oversight. ACP recently released a position paper on the \u201cgrowing involvement\u201d of private equity and corporatization in health care. That involvement \u201craises important questions about its effect on cost, quality, access and the physician workforce,\u201d according to the position paper, because \u201cprivate equity investment in health care is associated with increased costs and, in some settings, adverse effects on care delivery and outcomes.\u201d
Now, \u201crising costs, administrative burdens, workforce shortages and declining reimbursement have made independent practice increasingly difficult, contributing to physician transitions to corporate ownership models,\u201d which can create unique challenges \u201cdue to the evolving dynamics of their work environment,\u201d according to the position paper, which calls for policy interventions to address those challenges. At its annual House of Delegates meeting, the AMA also adopted policy strengthening its opposition to corporate pushes into medicine. The \u201csweeping policy,\u201d which \u201csignificantly revises previous\u201d guidance established \u201csome of the most specific AMA guidance to date intending to protect physician autonomy and patient care from corporate influence,\u201d according to a press release. More specifically, AMA\u2019s new policy affirms the organization\u2019s support for physician ownership; suggests that practices delivering health care \u201cshould be majority owned by actively practicing licensed physicians who retain final authority over clinical decision-making and operational decisions affecting patient care\u201d; supports greater transparency for practice ownership; opposes clauses that \u201crestrict physicians\u2019 ability to exercise independent professional judgment, advocate for patients, report unsafe or unethical conditions, or continue caring for patients consistent with ethical and legal obligations\u201d; identifies some contractual mechanisms that could \u201cenable nonlicensed entities to exert\u201d control over practices; and \u201copposes specific corporate ownership structures and contractual arrangements that could permit nonlicensed entities to exercise control over the practice of medicine.\u201d Healio spoke with Dejaih Johnson, JD, MPA, manager of regulatory affairs at ACP, to learn more about the organization\u2019s position paper, pros and cons of private equity in health care, and more. Healio: Why did ACP publish this position paper? Why is this subject so important for primary care physicians to know about? Johnson: ACP published this position paper because private equity and broader trends of corporatization are increasingly shaping how care is delivered, how practices operate and how physicians can make decisions for their patients. More physicians are practicing in employed settings, and many practices face real financial pressures, including rising costs, administrative burden, inadequate reimbursement and burnout. These pressures can make outside investment attractive or, in some cases, feel necessary. For primary care physicians, this is especially important because they are often the center of a patient\u2019s care. Internal medicine physicians care for patients across the full continuum, including patients with complex, chronic and overlapping needs. When corporate ownership or management structures interfere with clinical judgment, shorten visits, emphasize productivity over patient need, or fragment the patient-physician relationship, that directly affects primary care. The paper is really about making sure that as the health care system changes, patient-centered care, physician professionalism and clinical autonomy remain protected. Healio: What are the pros and cons of private equity in the health care sector? Johnson: Private equity investment is not inherently negative. In the right circumstances, outside capital can support innovation, infrastructure, care delivery transformation and service expansion. For some practices, investment may offer resources they would not otherwise have, particularly in an environment where independent practice has become increasingly difficult. The concern is that private equity\u2019s business model often depends on generating relatively short-term returns. In health care, that can create tension with the long-term goals of patient care, patient-physician relationships and community health. If financial goals begin to drive clinical operations, patients and physicians can be harmed. That may show up through increased costs, consolidation, reduced competition, pressure to increase volume, shorter visits, changes in staffing or constraints in physicians\u2019 clinical decision-making. So, ACP\u2019s position is not that all private investment is bad. It is that health care needs stronger guardrails to ensure investment serves patients, supports physicians and does not prioritize profit over care. Healio: How does private equity directly impact PCPs? What specific challenges do physicians who are employed by a health care organization owned by private equity encounter? Johnson: Primary care physicians are often the front door to the health care system. They manage prevention, chronic disease, care coordination, behavioral health concerns and referrals. Anything that disrupts their ability to spend appropriate time with patients or exercise independent clinical judgment can have significant consequences. For physicians employed by private equity-owned or corporate entities, some challenges may include increased productivity expectations, pressure to see more patients in less time, reduced control over staffing or scheduling, limitations on referrals, and less autonomy in clinical decision-making. These pressures can contribute to burnout and moral distress, especially when physicians feel they are being asked to practice in ways that do not align with their patients\u2019 needs. This is particularly concerning in primary care because the value of the patient-physician relationship is built over time. When care becomes more transactional, patients lose something meaningful, and physicians do too. Healio: The position paper notes that \u201cprior regulatory efforts have not fully prevented consolidation,\u201d but there is now \u201cstronger justification and clearer targets for enforcement and policy refinement.\u201d Where did prior policy fall short, and what are ACP\u2019s recommendations for how accountability,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3079,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3078","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3078"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3078\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drsoniafawad.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}