Two radiologists in private practice are pondering private equity’s growing interest in medicine, posing the question: “Why aren’t we more concerned?”
Leah Davis, DO, and Sharon D'Souza MD, shared their thoughts in a piece published Monday by Current Problems in Diagnostic Radiology [1]. They highlighted recent research and news happenings tied to this topic, including a 2023 American Antitrust Institute study, which found that PE acquisitions upped radiology prices by 8.2%.
The two editorialists contend that PE has the potential to reshape practice patterns for members of the specialty. Higher productivity requirements, decreased physician autonomy and increased burnout are a few reasons to be wary of private equity-backed imaging, they argued.
“Consolidation of the radiology market has major implications on the current and future radiology workforce by exacerbating the radiologist shortage, complicating recruitment and destabilizing successful independent practices,” Davis and D’Souza, with Grand Traverse Radiologists in Michigan and Tulsa Radiology Associates in Oklahoma, respectively, wrote April 1. “This is of particular importance to early career radiologists, who generally have negative perceptions of corporatization, would prefer to join independent practices, and worry about their practices selling to national corporations.”
To counter this trend, Davis and D’Souza urged peers to drive this conversation, rather than letting private equity firms take the lead. Doing so will refocus the discussion around quality patient care, physician autonomy and fair reimbursement. But leading such talks will require radiologists to educate themselves about private equity and related ownership trends.
“We also need to be active in advocacy and make deliberate decisions when accepting job offers to avoid employment models that would ‘surrender control of [our] destiny’ and jeopardize the future of our profession,” the authors concluded. “There is momentum for change at the federal and state levels, supported by active grassroots advocacy multispecialty physician groups and a few, but not nearly enough, state and national physician specialty groups. Now, we need radiologists and radiology physician groups like the ACR to join the effort and fight to preserve physician-owned and physician-controlled radiology groups.”
Read the rest of their thoughts at the link below. For a counter perspective, you can read about a recent video opinion piece from private equity-backed industry giant Radiology Partners.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.