The Physicians Advocacy Institute sent a letter to federal officials regarding the negative effects of consolidation on healthcare. Becker's connected with Kelly Kenney, CEO of the advocacy group, to find out more.
The letter, which was sent to the Justice Department, the Federal Trade Commission and HHS May 29, called on leaders to protect patients and physicians from corporate entities' "anti-competitive" practices, such as federal policies that put undue pressure on independent physicians and small practices, leading to further consolidation or practice closures.
According to research commissioned by the institute, hospitals and health systems employed 26% of physicians and owned 14% of physician practices in 2012. However, as of 2024, hospitals, health systems and other corporate entities employ nearly 80% of physicians and own nearly 60% of physician practices.
Further, Ms. Kenney said their research found that 60% of employed physicians said that corporate ownership has reduced their autonomy as clinicians.
"It was one of the top negative impacts of these ownership changes: that they have less time with patients and less communication," Ms. Kenney told Becker's. "They are reporting that practice ownership by corporate entities is undermining the quality of their relationships with their patients."
Seventy percent of those surveyed physicians said that their employer uses incentives for them to see more patients each day, leaving them with less time to spend with each patient. Some also said that policies that their employers have in place are impacting their clinical decision making.
"They have this overlay of a corporate policy to consider," Ms. Kenney said. "They have to consider things like: 'Oh, my employer is telling me I need to deliver a lower service to this patient, or a less expensive medication or and if it's equal care, okay, but what if it's not?'"
According to Ms. Kenney, the survey found that 40% of physicians under corporate ownership said that their employer had practices, policies and incentives that required them to adjust treatment options to reduce costs.
A Medscape survey of employed physicians found that only 50% said they are satisfied with their autonomy. Beyond that, 23% said they are "unsatisfied" or "very unsatisfied" with their autonomy levels.
"It's a brand new force in terms of how physicians deliver care," Ms. Kenney said.
The Physicians Advocacy Institute hopes that its efforts will spur industrywide change.
"We're really excited that the regulators are actually paying attention now," Ms. Kenney said. "It's not that we're anti-private equity or we're anti-hospital, we're not anti-anything. Physicians are working in these environments, and we want to make sure clinical care stays with physicians."