Physician services was one of the top five active sectors for health-care transactions in February and is on pace to reach well over 300 deals in 2021.
The first two months of the year saw 71 deals involving more than a dozen physician specialties, including primary care (16), eye care (15), orthopedics (6), and gastroenterology (5). Twenty-five deals were announced or closed in February, up from 19 during the same month last year. There were 208 physician practices deals in 2020.
Consolidation of physician practices can be a concern to health insurers, employers, and consumers because it can lead to higher fees and health-care costs. But many independent physician practices have been strained by the sharp reduction in visits during the Covid-19 shutdown, putting more pressure on them to sell to hospital systems or merge with other physician groups.