Optum subsidiary SCA Health, one of the largest ASC operators in the U.S., has expanded its reach with the acquisition of Exton, Pa.-based U.S. Digestive Health in early 2025.
The deal adds significant scale to Optum’s portfolio. U.S. Digestive Health includes more than 250 gastroenterology providers across 40 practice sites and 24 ASCs in Pennsylvania and Delaware. The organization itself was formed in 2019 through the consolidation of three regional gastroenterology groups, backed by private equity investment.
Five ASC and GI leaders joined Becker’s to discuss their thoughts on the sale:
Shakeel Ahmed, MD. CEO of Atlas Surgical Group (St. Louis): My overall impression is that this is going to be a positive influence on outpatient care and ASC market in general. While I lament the impending demise of private practice gastroenterology, I feel that these high-level mergers do help improve patient care and access. By bringing a large GI practice under the Optum umbrella, SCA can leverage their care and offer their value-based contracts to the medical practices. In addition, overall this acquisition will expand the reach of the GI group, and position Optum as a leader in the future of gastrointestinal care.
Also, this merger/acquisition will heavily influence the shift of patient care from inpatient setting to outpatient facilities. That has been my vision for decades: A healthcare system that caters to the needs of patients in a more convenient, cost-effective and personal setting. With that said, this would be a movement in the right direction.
Alejandro Badia, MD. Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Badia Hand to Shoulder Center (Miami): The continued acquisition of medical practices by large corporations, whose focus is on profits and Wall Street, will continue to have a chilling effect on clinicians and ultimately, patients. The Optum takeover of a major GI medicine network will likely lead to greater disincentive when compared to traditional private practice where the clinician makes virtually all decisions, for better or worse. We need administrators and even business oversight but not servitude and sharing revenue when we are already stretched due to decreasing reimbursement. Many of us believe the pendulum will soon swing back..
Benjamin Levy III, MD. Gastroenterologist at University of Chicago Medicine: Optum’s acquisition of U.S. Digestive Health is important because it’s an example of how companies (Optum is owned by UnitedHealth Group) can quickly consolidate gastroenterology practices and integrate care within a health insurance ecosystem. Hopefully, this will help streamline insurance approval for GI endoscopy procedures, especially at ASCs where their physicians practice. A major goal should be to improve the efficiency of healthcare delivery. Unfortunately, physicians might lose some autonomy during the acquisition.
It’s important for gastroenterologists to remain part of the decision-making leadership team that designs clinical work-flows, no matter who owns the practice. Patients love going to gastroenterology practices that are patient-focused, organized, unrushed and full of happy physicians who empower healthy behavior lifestyle choices including nutrition and exercise.
It’s important to preserve the best parts of GI practices during any acquisition, so hopefully local gastroenterologists will be identified in each pod to maintain ideal practice management in accordance with GI society-based clinical guidelines. In addition, attention should be focused on increasing colonoscopy screening rates in each community to remove polyps and prevent colorectal cancer.
Andrew Lovewell. CEO of Columbia Orthopaedic Group: Once again we see another large transaction from Optum in the healthcare space. Optum is already the largest employer of physicians across the entire United States and has grown again through this large acquisition. This isn’t surprising as Optum continues to build up their war chest of providers, ASCs and its SCA portfolio. However, there is certainly concern as private equity and insurance is taking over physician groups across the US. We have to anticipate that the cost of care will increase as market power is consolidated to those that control the care and the dollar.
Dr. Geogy Vennikandam. COO of GI Partners of Illinois: The acquisition of a major gastroenterology group by Optum really underscores the broader trend of consolidation in healthcare. For independent, physician-led groups like ours, it raises both challenges and opportunities.
On one hand, consolidation can bring resources, scale and leverage — but it also risks diminishing the physician’s voice and shifting the focus away from patient-centered care toward purely financial outcomes. I believe the real differentiator moving forward will be how groups balance operational efficiency with maintaining the integrity of physician leadership and autonomy.
Private equity has played an undeniable role in shaping the landscape over the last decade, and now with large corporations stepping in, the dynamics are evolving even further. It’s a moment that calls for strong advocacy, creative thinking, and collaboration so that we don’t lose sight of why most of us entered this field in the first place: to care for patients in the best, most ethical way possible.
