Gary W. Herschman, Health Care Mergers and Acquisitions attorney, and Dana Jacoby, CEO of Vector Medical Group, were quoted in Kaiser Health News, in “More Orthopedic Physicians Sell Out to Private Equity Firms, Raising Alarms About Costs and Quality,” by Harris Meyer.
Following is an excerpt:
Orthopedic surgeons, long seen as fiercely independent, are rapidly catching up with other specialist physicians, such as dermatologists and ophthalmologists, in selling control of their practices to private equity investment firms. They hope to grab a bigger chunk of the surging market in outpatient surgery and maintain their position as one of the highest-paid specialties in medicine — $633,620 was the average compensation for orthopedists in 2021. For older doctors, the upfront cash payout and the potential second payout when the business is flipped offers the promise of a posh retirement.
Proponents say private equity investment has the potential to reduce total spending on musculoskeletal care and improve quality by helping physicians move more procedures to cheaper outpatient surgery centers, which have less overhead. It also could help the doctors shift to value-based payment models, in which they charge fixed amounts for whole episodes of care, such as total joint replacements and spine surgeries — receiving bonuses or penalties from insurers based on cost and quality performance.
But critics warn that profit-hungry private equity ownership alternatively could result in higher prices for patients and insurers, more unnecessary surgery, and less access to care for patients on Medicaid or those who are uninsured or underinsured. A recent study found that in the two years after a sale, PE-owned practices in three other medical specialties had average charges per claim that were 20% higher than at places not owned by private equity. …
There are now at least 15 PE-backed management companies — called platforms — that own orthopedic practices across the country, said Gary Herschman, a New York lawyer who advises physicians in these deals. The first orthopedic deals were done in 2017, and dozens of sales have occurred since then, with the pace expected to quicken. In 2022 alone, at least 15 orthopedic practices were sold to PE-owned management companies.
Dana Jacoby, CEO of the Vector Medical Group, a strategic consultancy for physician groups, said several orthopedic platforms built by private equity investors already are on the market for resale to other investors, though she wouldn’t say which ones. The government does not require public reporting of these deals unless they exceed $101 million, a threshold that is adjusted over time.
