Fry added later that “we also need to understand the non-economic drivers enticing cardiologists to be acquired through such a vehicle.”
“Is it just about the money or is the move to PE a symptom of more foundational problems with the current practice of medicine and cardiology? Clinicians, health system administrators, policy makers, and the public need to define the elements of clinical practice that encourage a growing number of cardiologists to seek out alternative employment models. Addressing them will be necessary to truly transform care and promote equity and value,” he concluded.
Private equity’s point of view: Cardiovascular Associates of America CEO shares his perspective
Cardiovascular Business spoke to Tim Attebery, DSc, MBA, the CEO of Cardiovascular Associates of America (CVAUSA) and a former ACC CEO, about the JACC analysis. CVAUSA is one of the country’s most prominent PE-backed cardiology management groups, with 23 practices and approximately 400 cardiologists under its umbrella.
According to Attebery, the study’s authors made the number of PE acquisitions in cardiology seem larger than it is by counting each separate practice location as its own clinic.
“If we acquired a practice with seven offices, they would call that seven clinics,” he said. “Well, it’s not seven clinics, it’s one clinic with seven sites.”
Attebery also said, in his own experience with CVAUSA, cardiology practices aren’t sold and resold as often as the study’s authors wrote in their analysis. Firms do need to file certain paperwork that shows a change of control, and that paperwork has to be completed separately for each physical location, but he has not seen practices being sold multiple times in such a short period of time.
Outside of those concerns, Attebery said he is “generally pleased” so many cardiologists and cardiology leaders are paying attention to this growing trend.
He also said that the number of U.S. cardiologists currently backed by a PE firm remains quite low—“still minor in comparison” to the number who have “been gobbled up by hospitals.”