Who Owns Your Doctor’s Office? Corporate Control and Its Impact on Patient Care
- Alicia Raffinengo
- 8 hours ago
- 5 min read
By Alicia Raffinengo
Reporter, Life News Today
The sign outside the medical office may still display a familiar physician’s name, but increasingly the owner behind the practice is not the doctor. Across the United States, insurance companies, hospital systems and investment firms have been buying private medical practices at a pace that has reshaped the structure of healthcare. Many patients continue to see the same physician in the same location, but financial control, operational policies and business decisions may now be directed by a corporation rather than the physician providing care. This shift represents one of the most significant structural changes in modern American medicine, altering how practices operate and who ultimately controls the business of patient care.
One of the ways this ownership structure can affect patients is through the treatment approval process. When an insurance company or large healthcare corporation owns physician practices while also providing insurance coverage, the same parent company may employ the physician, operate the clinic and administer the insurance plan responsible for approving treatments. This model, known as vertical integration, connects the delivery of care with the financing of care. Insurance companies commonly require prior authorization, a process that requires physicians to obtain approval before certain tests, medications or procedures are covered. According to the American Medical Association, 94 percent of physicians reported that prior authorization delays necessary care, and 33 percent reported that prior authorization has led to a serious adverse event such as hospitalization, disability or other harm. Federal investigators have also examined how these approval systems affect patients. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General reported that Medicare Advantage plans denied requests for medical services that met Medicare coverage rules, stating that “beneficiaries were denied services that should have been covered.” For patients, this can mean waiting for diagnostic imaging, specialist care or treatment even after a physician has determined what is medically necessary, affecting when care begins and how conditions progress.
The transition away from physician ownership has accelerated over the past decade. In 2012, about 60 percent of physicians worked in practices they owned or partly owned. By 2024, that number had fallen to about 42 percent, according to national physician workforce surveys conducted by the American Medical Association. During the same period, employment by hospitals, insurance-affiliated corporations and large healthcare systems increased sharply. Today, approximately three-quarters of physicians work as employees rather than practice owners. This shift has transferred operational control from individual physicians to corporate entities that may own multiple clinics, employ thousands of physicians and operate across multiple states.
Insurance companies have become some of the largest owners of physician practices. UnitedHealth Group, the nation’s largest health insurer, owns Optum, a healthcare division that employs or affiliates with tens of thousands of physicians and operates clinics nationwide. This structure allows the same corporation to insure patients, employ physicians and process payments for care. CVS Health, which owns insurance provider Aetna, operates thousands of MinuteClinic locations and acquired Oak Street Health, a primary care network focused on Medicare patients. Humana operates physician networks through its CenterWell division, providing primary care services in multiple states. These corporate structures combine insurance and medical care under a single organization.
Federal agencies have reported that this consolidation has expanded significantly. The Government Accountability Office reported that healthcare consolidation can affect “price, quality of care, and patient access,” and noted that vertical integration has increased across healthcare markets. These ownership arrangements allow corporations to influence how care is delivered, how services are billed and how treatment requests are processed within their systems.
Private equity investment firms have also purchased thousands of medical practices in specialties including dermatology, emergency medicine, cardiology and anesthesia. In these arrangements, physicians continue to provide care, but the business itself is owned by investors responsible for operational management and financial performance. The American Medical Association reported that private equity acquisitions have increased substantially in recent years, representing a significant shift from the traditional physician-owned practice model.
Government payment systems play a major role in shaping corporate healthcare strategy. Medicare and Medicaid together insure more than 140 million Americans, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. These programs reimburse healthcare providers based on government-established payment formulas, while private insurance companies negotiate separate payment rates. Medicare Advantage plans, which are privately administered versions of Medicare funded by the federal government, now cover more than half of eligible Medicare beneficiaries. Under this system, insurance companies receive federal payments to provide coverage and often deliver care through physician networks they own or control.
Federal oversight agencies have examined how insurance approval systems operate within these arrangements. The Office of Inspector General found that some Medicare Advantage denials involved services that met Medicare coverage criteria and stated that such denials “may prevent or delay beneficiaries from receiving needed care.” These findings illustrate how administrative approval systems can directly affect whether patients receive recommended medical services.
Corporate ownership also affects how physicians work within healthcare systems. Corporate employers often establish productivity requirements based on the number of patients seen per day or billing-based performance measures. These requirements are designed to increase efficiency and manage operational costs. However, seeing more patients per day typically reduces the amount of time available for each individual patient. Studies published in JAMA Internal Medicine and Health Affairs found that primary care visits average approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Researchers have estimated that providing all recommended preventive and chronic care services would require more time than is available during a typical workday.
Administrative requirements related to insurance approval have also increased physician workload. The American Medical Association reported that physicians and their staff spend an average of nearly two business days per week completing prior authorization requests. These administrative tasks include submitting documentation, responding to insurance company requests and appealing denied treatments.
Despite these structural changes, physicians remain legally and professionally responsible for patient care. Medical licensing laws require physicians to perform appropriate evaluations, make informed medical decisions and meet the standard of care regardless of employment structure. Physicians can be held personally liable for malpractice if care is found to be negligent. At the same time, corporations that employ physicians can also bear legal responsibility. Under established legal principles, employers may be held liable for the actions of their employees, and corporate healthcare organizations may face liability for unsafe policies, inadequate staffing or system failures.
Healthcare organizations remain subject to federal and state regulations designed to protect patients. Physicians must maintain licenses issued by state medical boards, which enforce professional standards and discipline misconduct. Healthcare organizations must comply with federal laws governing billing, privacy and participation in Medicare and Medicaid. Federal agencies including the Government Accountability Office continue to monitor healthcare consolidation and ownership trends as part of their oversight responsibilities.
For patients, these structural changes are often not visible. The physician, staff and office location may remain the same after ownership changes. However, financial ownership, operational policies and insurance approval processes may now be controlled by corporate entities rather than physicians themselves. These ownership structures can influence scheduling, administrative procedures and how treatment approvals are handled.
As corporate ownership continues to expand, the traditional model of independent physician practice has become less common. Understanding who owns a medical practice, how treatment approval systems operate and how healthcare organizations are structured has become an increasingly important part of understanding how healthcare is delivered in the United States and how patients receive the care their physicians recommend.
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