A study published Aug. 3 in Science Direct found that five outpatient procedures showed diverging volume trends after physician practices were acquired by private equity firms, while overall office visit volumes were largely unaffected.
Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh tracked 199 urologists acquired by private equity firms in 2016 and 2018, comparing them to 196 non-acquired physicians using Medicare billing data from 2013 to 2022. Using comparative interrupted time series analysis, they examined volume changes across seven commonly billed outpatient procedures and several office visit types before and after acquisition.
The clearest signal emerged in complex cystometrogram, a bladder function test, which increased by 10.2 procedures per physician-year among 2018-acquired physicians compared with the control group.
Other procedures, including cystoscopy, post-void residual testing, prostate biopsy and complex uroflow, showed diverging trends after 2018 acquisitions, while new patient and follow-up office visit volumes remained largely unchanged in both acquisition years.
Physicians acquired by private equity firms were also less likely to have fellowship training (22% vs. 37%) and more likely to already hold partner status (63%) compared with the control group, the study found.
Researchers said the findings underscore the uncertain trajectory of private equity’s growing footprint in the specialty, noting the full effect of the changing ownership model “is yet to be determined.”
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