RevCycle Intelligence September 6, 2023
A new study of vertical integration in healthcare shows PCPs in health systems steer patients toward systems and specialists, resulting in higher utilization and costs.
A new study out of Harvard University links vertical relationships between primary care physicians (PCPs) and health systems to “steering,” in which providers refer patients to specialists and other care providers within the system. This steering led to higher utilization and spending on patient care, researchers found.
The study recently published in JAMA Health Forum analyzed more than 4 million observations of commercially insured patients in Massachusetts treated by physicians newly aligned with a health system either through ownership, joint contracting, or affiliation and physicians who did not have a vertical relationship or were...
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