The Risks and Benefits of Physician Practice Acquisition and Consolidation: A Narrative Review of Peer-Reviewed Publications Between 2009 and 2022 in the United States

The objective of this narrative review was to assess current literature regarding acquisition and consolidation of physician practices in the United States (US). The acquisition and consolidation of physician practices is a trend affecting patient care, quality of services, healthcare economics and the daily practice of physicians. As practices are acquired by fellow physician groups, private equity investors and entities such as hospitals or large healthcare systems, it is important to better understand the underlying forces driving these transactions and their effects. This is a narrative review of peer-reviewed publications to determine what current literature has covered regarding the acquisition and consolidation of physician practices in the US regarding risks and benefits of this trend. Sources included the SCOPUS, Medline- PUBMED and Web of Science databases. Peer reviewed publications from 2009 to 2022 were included for initial review and curation for relevance using the search terms "physician" and "practice" with either "acquisition" or "consolidation". Synthesis conducted after narrowing down of relevant articles did not use quantitative measurements, but instead examined overall trends, as well as risk and benefits of ongoing acquisition and consolidation in a narrative format. Journal articles focused on physician consolidation in the US often reported increases in physician numbers with decreases in numbers of individual practices. Private equity quantitative analyses reported rapidly accelerating acquisitions driven by these investors, and vertical integration scholarly work reported frequent geographic consolidation of nearby practitioners. Risks associated with these transactions included such items as decreased physician autonomy and higher cost of care. Benefits included practice stability, improved negotiation with insurers and improved access to resources.