Integration & Physician Issues

The Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department are seeking comments on ways merger guidelines should be updated, and physicians are raising concerns about private equity-backed buyouts of provider practices. 

Asheville Watchdog says at least 223 physicians have exited Mission Health since HCA Healthcare took over the health system in 2019. Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare has declined to say how many physicians have left. 

Women, including female physicians, were hit hard during the pandemic, as they juggled their careers and a plethora of caregiving responsibilities, according to Vinnet Arora, MD, speaking on a March 21 American Medical Association podcast.

About 41 percent of family physicians reported being named in a malpractice lawsuit in 2021, down from 49 percent two years earlier, according to Medscape's latest "Family Physician Malpractice Report."

Patients of color are significantly less likely to have healthcare providers of the same race compared with white patients, signaling a need to diversify the healthcare workforce to help promote equity and reduce disparities, according to a study published March 23 by…

San Francisco-based Dignity Health has selected Justin Fu, MD, to serve a two-year term as chief of staff at its St. Bernardine Medical Center in San Bernardino, Calif. 

A record number of senior applicants registered for this year's Match Day, held March 18, though the total number of applicants fell from 2021, according to the National Resident Matching Program, which operates the residency program application system.

Robert McIntyre, MD, chief of medicine at South Shore Hospital, died March 17 after an apparent diving accident in Florida, according to a news release from the South Weymouth, Mass.-based health system. 

Healthcare systems have started residency programs and partnerships to address workforce shortages.

Primary care in the U.S. lags behind other high-income countries in many ways, including access and continuity, according to an analysis released March 15 by the Commonwealth Fund.