Paul Berggreen, MD, chief strategy officer of GI Alliance and president of the American Independent Medical Practice Association, connected with Becker’s to give his insights on the survival of private gastroenterology practices.
Question: Will practices have to get bigger to survive in today’s market?
Dr. Paul Berggreen: For most of them, the answer is yes. I wouldn’t say for all of them. I’ll give you an example: in Phoenix at Arizona Digestive Health, that’s 65 gastroenterologists, there are still groups of two, three, there’s a group of six, but really there are not a lot of independent practices remaining. It’s tough. I know a lot of those people and they’re good doctors. They’re sticking it out and adjusting their practices to try to remain relevant and survive and a lot of times just work harder. But that’s really tough. So I do think private practice is going to continue to shrink if we don’t change the trajectory.
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