By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    What Are the Benefits of CBD?
    November 27, 2021
    How to Measure Adult Diapers- The Ultimate Guide to Picking the Right Size
    March 8, 2022
    medicine cabinet
    The Effect Of Finished Dosage Form Manufacturing In New Drugs
    July 5, 2022
    Latest News
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
    The Wide-Ranging Benefits of Magnesium Supplements
    June 11, 2025
    The Best Home Remedies for Migraines
    June 5, 2025
    The Hidden Impact Of Stress On Your Body’s Alignment And Balance
    May 22, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    turo lawyer
    Why A Good Turo Lawyer Can Help Cover Medical Fees
    April 8, 2024
    Comprehensive Healthcare Treatment for Slip and Fall Injuries: A Guide to Recovery
    Comprehensive Healthcare Treatment for Slip and Fall Injuries: A Guide to Recovery
    December 26, 2023
    Medical Negligence
    The Impact of Medical Negligence: How Claims Can Help You Move Forward
    January 6, 2025
    Latest News
    Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
    July 6, 2025
    Top HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps for Healthcare Teams
    June 25, 2025
    When Healthcare Ends, the Legal Process Begins: What Families Should Know About Probate and Medical Estates
    June 20, 2025
    Preventing Contamination In Healthcare Facilities Starts With Hygiene
    June 15, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: A More Positive Outlook on Provider Consolidation
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Business > Finance > A More Positive Outlook on Provider Consolidation
BusinessFinanceHospital AdministrationNews

A More Positive Outlook on Provider Consolidation

DavidEWilliams
DavidEWilliams
Share
4 Min Read
Image
SHARE

Image

Image

You should read Dr. Scott Gottlieb’s (The Doctor Won’t See You Now. He’s Clocked Out) opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal. He argues that ObamaCare is making independent physician practices obsolete by forcing physicians to work for big hospitals as part of Accountable Care Organizations (ACO), is  imposing high costs for information technology on those who try to remain independent, and that the Administration’s policies will have the ironic consequence of driving up costs since employed physicians are less productive.

There’s a lot of truth in the article. As I have written recently, fees sometimes rise when hospitals buy physician practices and tack on facility fees. And in my prediction for 2013 published by InformationWeek I predicted that physicians will struggle to stay independent.

More Read

Pharma Firm Bets Sialic Acid Could Help Explain Link Between Diet and Inflammatory Diseases
How to Cope with Trauma after an Accident
How Patient Satisfaction Surveys Really Help
Heating Up in Healthcare Investing: Cost Transparency Firms Reel In $400M Since 2010
The Basics of Long Term Care Insurance

But although I mainly agree with Gottlieb’s observations, I’m more optimistic than he is, and less eager to point the finger at ObamaCare. In particular:

  • The trend toward hospital employment has been going on for a long while now, as Gottlieb acknowledges. One could say ObamaCare encourages this trend but from my perspective the bigger factors are the desire to join with a bigger entity to negotiate better rates with managed care, a generational shift as younger doctors decide they want balance between life and work (especially women, who now comprise the majority of medical students), and the rising overhead involved in running a practice. Ironically, physicians I’ve spoken with have cited the cost of health insurance for staff as a reason for joining up with the big boys!
  • ObamaCare does not require anyone to be in an ACO and does not require them to be run by hospitals. Physicians could organize their own ACOs and I hope in the future more do, even if that hasn’t been the way things have gone so far
  • Health IT is a drag on small office but also for big hospital based systems. Those inefficiencies will take a few years to work out but I’m optimistic that a new generation of systems will empower the small physician practice, the way technology has made it possible to operate smaller professional services firms in consulting, law and other fields
  • Costs are becoming a bigger and bigger focus, and the country just won’t tolerate health care prices that go up and up. The facility fee issue and Steven Brill’s article in Time on costs are two examples. It’s commercial health plans, not government programs, that have been tolerating higher costs. Buying up physician practices may help hospitals negotiate hard with commercial health plans but Medicare and Medicaid are not going to be impressed. In the long run –maybe 10 years– hospital systems that fail to generate greater efficiency from buying up practices will lose ground to new types of entities, especially those that are virtually integrated through technology. As Gottlieb pointed out, we’ve been through the cycle of physician acquisition by hospitals before, and it was reversed due to lagging productivity
  • ObamaCare represents a great big target to shoot at, and easy to criticize in a vacuum. But we have to compare it with what came before, which was hardly a panacea.
By David E. Williams of the Health Business Group.

image: healthcarebusiness/shutterstock

 

TAGGED:ACOsphysician practice
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

9 Lifestyle Tweaks That Can Add Years to Your Life
9 Healthcare Lifestyle Tweaks That can Add Years to Your Life
lifestyle
July 11, 2025
car accident lawsuit
Let Your Lawyer Handle the Work Before You Pay Medical Costs
Policy & Law
July 6, 2025
women dental care
What Is a Smile Makeover and How Much Does It Cost?
Dental health
June 30, 2025
HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps
Top HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps for Healthcare Teams
Global Healthcare Policy & Law Technology
June 25, 2025

You Might also Like

Drug Co-Pay Cards: Can We All Just Get Along?

August 3, 2011

How Healthcare Marketers Can Maximize Twitter’s New Features

February 17, 2015
Panelists at the City of Hope event
NewsPublic Health

What Is a Patient Opinion Leader?

May 6, 2014
coolsculpting is a treatment worth considering for smoothing out your skin
News

CoolSculpting: Why Is Everyone Talking About It?

June 23, 2022
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?