Using data on acquisitions of outpatient physician and dental practices in Finland, a study by Burri, Heinonen and Pietola of the Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority (2024[97]) finds post-acquisition price increases in acquired clinics compared to non-acquired clinics by about 20% for auxiliary services (primarily diagnostic tests and imaging such as X-rays), 10% for appointments with physicians, and around 10% in dental markets. The authors attribute these price changes to “price harmonisation” to the practices owned by the acquiring companies, rather than of increased concentration in local markets.
A study covering ten physician specialties in the United States finds that private equity-acquired practices are associated with price increases in eight of them. In markets where a single private equity firm held over 30% of a specialty, price increases are roughly 1.5 to 3 times larger than average (Scheffler et al., 2023[98]).
La Forgia et al. (2022[99]) finds that when outpatient facilities in the US contract with physician management companies (PMCs) - for-profit entities that manage billing and contracting for physician groups - allowed amounts and unit prices for anaesthesia increase (about +16.5% and +18.7% respectively), with larger increases when PMCs are private-equity backed (e.g. allowed amounts around +26% in a subsample analysis).