Overview

• An Annals of Internal Medicine analysis found a 13% increase in emergency department mortality among Medicare patients after hospitals were acquired by private equity firms, equal to seven additional deaths per 10,000 visits from a baseline of 52.
• Post-buyout cost cutting included an average 18% reduction in emergency department salary expenditures and 16% in ICUs, alongside hospital‑wide declines of 11.6% in full‑time employees and 16.6% in salary spending compared with matched non‑acquired hospitals.
• Patient flow and intensity of care shifted after acquisitions, with ED transfers up 4.2%, ICU transfers up 10.2%, and ICU length of stay down 4.7%, consistent with reduced capacity to manage the sickest patients onsite.
• The study examined more than 1 million ED visits and 121,000 ICU hospitalizations at 49 private equity hospitals versus over 6 million ED visits and 760,000 ICU stays at 293 matched controls using 2009–2019 Medicare Parts A and B claims and cost reports.
• The federally funded research (NIH and AHRQ) builds on prior evidence of worsened patient safety after private equity buyouts and is fueling renewed scrutiny, with states such as Oregon and Indiana advancing oversight of investor ownership in health care.