Identifying PE investments in physician practices 

Data are compiled using PitchBook, the Medicare Data on Provider Practice and Specialty (MD-PPAS), and manual review of press releases, industry reports, and current and archived websites. 

Identifying PE investments in US hospitals

PE acquisitions of short-term acute care hospitals from 2015 to 2023 are based on publicly available data compiled by Kim et al. (2026).

Reference: Kim S, Naslund M, Wang X, et al. A practitioner's guide to using data on private equity hospital acquisitions. Health Aff Sch. 2026;4(4):qxag071. Published 2026 Apr 7. doi:10.1093/haschl/qxag071.

Determining physician affiliation 

We estimate physician affiliation (hospital-affiliated, PE-affiliated, other) using 2023 data. PE affiliation is estimated by linking data on PE investments to MD-PPAS Medicare Data on Provider Practice and Specialty. Hospital affiliation is estimated by linking data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Compendium of U.S. Health Systems to MD-PPAS data. 

• There are no systematic reporting or disclosure requirements for PE investments. As a result, our estimates likely do not capture smaller transactions that are unreported and should be interpreted as underestimates.
• Medicare data do not include certain specialties (e.g., obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, dentistry), or certain types of non-physician providers (e.g., advanced practice providers) that are exposed to PE investments. 
• PE investments in hospitals include short-term acute care hospitals, and do not include other settings that are exposed to PE investments, including psychiatric, rehabilitation, and long-term acute care hospitals.
• PE investments in certain specialties (anesthesiology, emergency medicine) rely on staffing firms rather than outpatient practice locations, and are excluded from the tracker.
• Data on PE heterogeneity, including reliance on management services organizations, leveraged buyouts, and joint ventures, are not available given lack of systematic disclosure requirements.
• Data on PE exits are not available given lack of systematic disclosure requirements. Entities classified as PE-affiliated may have undergone a change in ownership through exit, sale, or divestiture.