What Happens When Private Equity Buys Your Doctor ’ s Office?

Private equity ownership of American health care facilities has grown massively in the last few decades. A 2021 study of U.S. hospice agencies found private equity ownership more than doubled, to 7%, between 2011 and 2019 while in 2021, 63% of deals in hospice and home care were with private equity. Twice as many companies providing fertility care were bought between 2017 and 2019 than in the previous seven years combined, according to a 2020 study. The trend of accelerating acquistion stretches overseas, as well, with international health care buyouts by private equity firms totaling $240 billion in 2021 and 2022, compared to $245 billion over the previous five years. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] This has all taken place without any clear answers about what such buyouts mean for the skyrocketing number of patients who rely on private equity-owned facilities for care. A new review of dozens of international studies, however, shows the first large-scale evidence that private equity takeovers are associated with rising costs and sinking quality of care. The findings, published July 19 in the journalThe BMJ, effectively synthesized the results of 55 existing studies in a so-called meta analysis, bridging difficult gaps between variations in study design, including a handful of studies from countries outside the U.S. with similar private equity activity. “Our most unequivocal evidence is that private equity is associated with increased costs,”...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized healthscienceclimate Source Type: news