Consolidation of physician practices, largely driven by health systems, has motivated policy efforts to move care toward lower-price, non–health system settings. At the same time, however, private equity (PE) firms are increasingly acquiring those non–health system practices, potentially negating the prior price advantages of those practices. We used novel ownership data on gastroenterology practices linked to commercial claims for the period 2015–20 to study how PE acquisitions affect the prices and volume of care relative to both health system–affiliated practices and independent practices. We examined both professional fees and facility fees. After PE acquisition, prices increased by $92 per claim, or 28.4 percent, driven by a 78.1 percent increase in professional fees. Facility fees did not exhibit a statistically significant change. Meanwhile, utilization also increased. These findings suggest that PE firms have multiple avenues for raising prices—in this case, primarily via professional fees. For policy makers, although moving care out of higher-price health system settings remains a key strategy to lower spending, unchecked growth in professional fees in PE-acquired outpatient settings may nullify some of the intended effects.

Singh, Y., Song, Z., Polsky, D., & Zhu, J. M. (2025). Increases In Physician Professional Fees In Private Equity–Owned Gastroenterology Practices: Article examines increases in physician professional fees in private equity-owned gastroenterology practices. Health Affairs, 44(2), 215-223.