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 measures including site-neutral Medicare payments, 340B reform, business training during residency, payment models designed for smaller practices, antitrust scrutiny and physician-owned succession structures. These are the author’s policy recommendations, rather than established policy changes.