A study published in Health Affairs Scholar found that private equity firms owned 3.5% of U.S. short-term acute care hospitals in 2024, representing 2.5% of hospital beds and 1.8% of inpatient discharges. Researchers identified 556 hospitals acquired through 139 private equity deals between 2000 and 2024. The study identified three key patterns: private equity’s overall share of hospital ownership remains relatively small, ownership frequently changes, and investments are concentrated in specific geographic markets. Approximately two-thirds of acquired hospitals changed ownership within five years. In 2023, more than two-thirds of Americans lived in hospital referral regions without a private equity-owned hospital.…
Author: Rutali Thakur
Healthcare experts are warning that growing reliance on artificial intelligence could weaken clinicians’ independent diagnostic and decision-making skills, a phenomenon known as AI-driven deskilling. In this Healio report, physicians and clinical informatics experts highlight concerns that clinicians may struggle when AI tools become unavailable or produce incorrect recommendations. One example cited is a 2025 observational study published in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, which found that adenoma detection rates during colonoscopies performed without AI declined from 28.4% in the three months before AI implementation to 22.4% in the three months afterward. Experts caution that performance may deteriorate when clinicians become…
What Happens When Intelligence Becomes Part of the Infrastructure By Dr. Charles Accurso and Praveen Suthrum Imagine walking into a gastroenterology office several years from now. Before the physician enters the first examination room, the relevant patient story has already been assembled. The system knows why the patient is there, what happened at previous visits, which tests were completed, what medications have changed, whether the current complaint resembles something that happened years earlier, and whether important items from prior care remain unresolved. If the patient scheduled the visit because of right upper quadrant pain, much of the basic history may…
BPD Health examines how referral leakage can translate into substantial lost revenue for health systems. The article cites one analysis estimating that referrals from employed primary care physicians alone could represent an average $388 million in annual lost revenue per health system. The challenge, according to BPD, is not simply identifying where referrals go. Referral data may be fragmented across claims, EHRs, physician networks and service lines, making it difficult to identify which physicians are sending patients elsewhere and quantify the associated opportunity. The article argues that understanding why referrals leak is equally important. Causes can include physician relationships, perceptions…
A new federal bill introduced on September 16, 2026, would establish a nationwide prohibition on the corporate practice of medicine and impose significant restrictions on how management services organizations (MSOs) can operate physician practices. The Stop Corporate Takeovers of Physicians Act of 2026 would require physician owners to hold majority ownership and control, while limiting MSO influence over hiring, physician schedules, compensation, revenue distribution, billing, contracting and certain administrative functions. Pasted text The proposal comes amid continued debate over private equity and corporate ownership in healthcare. Research cited by MDLinx presents mixed findings: studies have reported changes in clinician turnover,…
Eli Lilly’s investigational retatrutide, a once-weekly triple GIP/GLP-1/glucagon receptor agonist, produced substantial weight loss in the phase 3 TRIUMPH-1 trial, published September 29 in The New England Journal of Medicine. The randomized trial included 2,339 adults with obesity without diabetes, treated for 80 weeks. Mean weight loss was 17.6% with 4 mg, 23.7% with 9 mg and 25.0% with 12 mg, compared with 3.9% with placebo. At the highest dose, more than one-fifth of participants achieved at least 35% weight loss using the treatment-regimen estimand. The trial also included dedicated subgroups with knee osteoarthritis and obstructive sleep apnea, with significant…
A claims-based analysis published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology found that overall cancer incidence was low and comparable across four major classes of advanced IBD therapies. The retrospective study included 15,687 adults with IBD who initiated TNF antagonists, vedolizumab, anti-interleukin therapies or JAK inhibitors between 2016 and 2023. Over a median 2.6 years of follow-up, three-year cumulative cancer incidence was 2.1% with TNF antagonists, 2.7% with vedolizumab, 2.0% with anti-interleukins and 2.5% with JAK inhibitors. After adjustment, none of the three newer therapy classes had a statistically significant difference in cancer risk compared with TNF antagonists. Siddharth Singh, MD, MS,…
In a new Medical Economics commentary, Robert Resnik, M.D., MBA, a board-certified internal medicine physician who has maintained a private practice for more than 30 years, examines why physician-owned practices are becoming increasingly difficult to sustain. Resnik, who earned his M.D. from Eastern Virginia Medical School and an MBA from Duke University, argues that medical debt, limited business training, administrative burdens, reimbursement pressure and the financial advantages of larger healthcare organizations are pushing physicians toward employment and away from independent ownership. The commentary also points to specialty medicine and rural healthcare, citing declining independent ownership and increasing consolidation. Resnik proposes…
A new study published in Digestive Diseases and Sciences examined whether the amount of fecal material visible on abdominal CT scans is associated with bowel function and gastrointestinal symptoms. Researchers analyzed 205 adults undergoing CT abdomen/pelvis and compared radiologic fecal burden, measured using the Starreveld scoring method, with patient-reported GI symptoms. Higher total-colon fecal burden showed weak associations with lower stool frequency, fewer liquid bowel movements and greater difficulty evacuating stool. However, fecal burden was not associated with hard stools, urgency, fullness, abdominal discomfort, abdominal pain or nausea. The authors concluded that CT-detected fecal burden is poorly associated with GI…
Cook Medical has issued a medical device correction for its Hemospray Endoscopic Hemostat, covering the HEMO-7, HEMO-10, HEMO-7-EU and HEMO-10-EU devices across all lots. The correction does not require removal of the devices from the field but updates the Instructions for Use (IFU) with additional preparation steps and precautions related to powder delivery and endoscope adherence. The updated guidance addresses two issues. Hemospray powder can adhere to the distal end of the endoscope, potentially making repositioning or removal difficult, with increased risk when water-based lubricant is used, during retroflexion, or when withdrawing through narrowed anatomy. Powder can also compact during…