‘If Walmart can’t do it … how can the average physician survive?’: Independent practices becoming less feasible
Becker's Healthcare August 2, 2024
From CFOs to ASCs, the pressure to meet margins as costs soar and reimbursements decline affects all of healthcare.
Independent physician practices are getting hit the hardest – only 44% of physicians owned their practice as of 2022, according to an American Medical Association report, compared with 76% in the early 1980s.
New data from consulting firm Avalere in a study sponsored by the Physicians Advocacy Institute estimated roughly 8,100 private practices were acquired by hospitals or corporations in 2022 and 2023, and 19,100 physicians became employees of hospitals or other corporate entities, up 5.1% since 2022.
Physicians aren’t the only ones struggling to meet margins in healthcare. Walmart announced plans to shutter all 51 health center locations...