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Who employs your doctor? Increasingly, a private equity firm

nytimes.com

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Re: Who employs your doctor? Increasingly, a private equity firm

#11

Post by tsunamifury »

PE is essentially buying all needs of a first world human. Medicine, homes, essential services, farmland, in an attempt to extract margin from the last possible places they can.

It feels like we’ve re entered the 80s again but worse where now we have 100 billionaires buying up farmland under the guise of it being better that they own it rather than the farmers for… reasons.

I think this is essentially late stage capitalism, where there is little left to offer the general population for margin, but much that can be taken away. I’d hazard a guess this is where capitalism turns on us and becomes a regressive force for America as margin stops fueling opportunities and starts fueling general decline for marginal returns. Im not pro socialist and I don’t have a solution — but I think we should recognize this and think hard on how to pull up out of this.

Re: Who employs your doctor? Increasingly, a private equity firm

#12

Post by peyton »

zug_zug wrote: post #2

ZocDoc needs a filter "not owned by private equity" Presumably the effect is -> PE forces doctors to spend less time/thought per patient -> patients receive worse care -> patients change providers Whoever can provide value to patients to forces "market efficiency" and helps patients and the system as a whole.

Nah the grift is that insurers are price-takers in a local area (if you want to provide insurance to businesses in Seattle, you need to cover e.g. cardiology in Seattle), so PE buys up all the cardiology practices in Seattle and charges more.

Re: Who employs your doctor? Increasingly, a private equity firm

#13

Post by dazc »

recursivedoubts wrote: post #9

america, unsatisfied with spending vastly more privately on healthcare than the rest of the world, while also spending more publicly on healthcare than the rest of the world, continues to find ways to make healthcare yet more expensive and ruinous for its citizens.

Maybe true but, for the rest of the world, you're still the 'go-to' place where medical miracles can happen. Money had something to do with this.

Re: Who employs your doctor? Increasingly, a private equity firm

#14

Post by appplication »

balderdash wrote: post #7

I’m the furthest thing from having any knowledge here, but it feels like it should kind of be like how law firms can only have lawyers be owners with the idea that owners need to be aligned with codes of professional conduct/ethical obligations to clients etc

As I understand it, there actually are laws for this for medical practices in most states (but I think not all?)

Re: Who employs your doctor? Increasingly, a private equity firm

#15

Post by ackbar03 »

verteu wrote: post #3

Reminds me of "Does Private Equity Investment in Healthcare Benefit Patients?" [1]. > Our estimates show that PE ownership increases the short-term mortality of Medicare patients by 10%, implying 20,150 lives lost due to PE ownership over our twelve-year sample period. This is accompanied by declines in other measures of patient well-being, such as lower mobility, while taxpayer spending per patient episode increases…

Capitalism at its best! America! Fk yeah!

Re: Who employs your doctor? Increasingly, a private equity firm

#17

Post by thegaulofthem »

appplication wrote: post #14
balderdash wrote: post #7

I’m the furthest thing from having any knowledge here, but it feels like it should kind of be like how law firms can only have lawyers be owners with the idea that owners need to be aligned with codes of professional conduct/ethical obligations to clients etc

As I understand it, there actually are laws for this for medical practices in most states (but I think not all?)

Easy, hire a partner-figurehead as a rubber-stamp and you’re off to the races.

I’ve seen similar in Federal contracting, hire a tick-the-box preference point partner with a make-work role to get contracts.

Re: Who employs your doctor? Increasingly, a private equity firm

#18

Post by handwarmers »

I remember reading about PE's involvement in hospice care and it made me feel sick to my core.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32597326 ( When private equity takes over a nursing home)

The Portopiccolo Group got sued, but the lawsuit did not go anywhere. https://www.mcknights.com/news/shuttered-nursing-home-avoids...

they are shady to say the least - https://medicareadvocacy.org/private-equity-and-nursing-faci...

Also see - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36108182 ( Private Equity Is Now Dominating the US Hospice System)

Re: Who employs your doctor? Increasingly, a private equity firm

#19

Post by Calavar »

verteu wrote: post #3

Reminds me of "Does Private Equity Investment in Healthcare Benefit Patients?" [1]. > Our estimates show that PE ownership increases the short-term mortality of Medicare patients by 10%, implying 20,150 lives lost due to PE ownership over our twelve-year sample period. This is accompanied by declines in other measures of patient well-being, such as lower mobility, while taxpayer spending per patient episode increases…

Another good article in this space is the New Yorker's report on Hahneman Hospital [1], which was acquired by a private equity firm and dissolved a few years later.

[1] https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/06/07/the-death-of-h...

Re: Who employs your doctor? Increasingly, a private equity firm

#20

Post by darth_avocado »

CamelCaseName wrote: post #8
balderdash wrote: post #7

I’m the furthest thing from having any knowledge here, but it feels like it should kind of be like how law firms can only have lawyers be owners with the idea that owners need to be aligned with codes of professional conduct/ethical obligations to clients etc

This is true for the veterinary world, probably other professions too. The result is that a veterinarian owns the business on paper, but the PE fund can take over or replace them as needed.

The veterinarian world is doomed. Increasingly PE is taking over entire neighborhoods when it come to vet hospitals. This is led to increased wait times, lower standards of care, higher cost to consumers and higher pet mortality rates. That can very well translate to human healthcare.
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