Workforce Composition In Private Equity-Acquired Versus Non-Private Equity-Acquired Physician Practices

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Healthcare Management
• Physician Workforce Studies

Background:

• Private equity (PE) acquisitions of US physician practices are growing, but their impact on clinical workforce composition remains unclear.
• Understanding workforce changes is crucial for assessing the implications of PE ownership on healthcare delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how private equity ownership affects the composition of the clinical workforce in acquired physician practices.
• To compare workforce changes in PE-acquired practices with those in independent, non-PE-acquired practices.

Main Methods:

• Utilized clinician-level data linked to practice acquisition information for dermatology, ophthalmology, and gastroenterology.
• Calculated clinician replacement ratios (entering clinicians/exiting clinicians) from 2014-2019.
• Employed a difference-in-differences analysis to compare changes in clinician counts before and after acquisition in PE-acquired versus control practices.

Main Results:

• PE-acquired practices exhibited a higher overall clinician replacement ratio (1.75) compared to non-PE-acquired practices (1.37).
• This trend was consistent across specialties and clinician types (physicians and advanced practice providers).
• PE-acquired practices showed significant yearly increases in advanced practice providers post-acquisition relative to controls.

Conclusions:

• Private equity ownership is associated with differential changes in workforce composition within physician practices.
• Findings suggest a strategic shift towards utilizing advanced practice providers for patient care delivery in PE-acquired settings.