Nearly three quarters of U.S. physicians (74%) are employed by hospitals, health systems or corporate entities as of January 1, 2022, according to new data from Avalere, in a study sponsored by the Physicians Advocacy Institute (PAI) that examined physician practice trends over the three-year period between 2019 and 2021. This is an increase from 69% of U.S. physicians being employed just last year.
Health systems and corporate entities have been steadily acquiring physician practices for years, but Avalere researchers found the trend has accelerated drastically since the onset of COVID-19. More than 100,000 (108,700) physicians became employees since January 2019. Of those, 83,000 (76%) became employees since the pandemic began.