Study: When hospitals buy physician practices, prices go up

AI-assisted summary

Hospital acquisition of private physician practices correlates with increased childbirth costs.

The shift from physician-owned practices to hospital employment for physicians has led to higher prices for patients.

Researchers found a significant increase in labor and delivery costs two years after hospitals acquired OB-GYN practices.

As more hospitals have gobbled up private physician practices, costs for childbirth and other services have gone up, according to a new study.

Since the early aughts, the share of physicians in the United States working for hospitals has nearly doubled , according to the study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, a nonprofit research organization.

And as fewer doctors work in physician-owned practices, patient