The Occasional Perspective - 10/28/25

When I feel I must share my thoughts and perspectives on a burning issue… 

Considering Both Sides – In these turbulent times, it’s often difficult to find resources that offer a “balanced” perspective on the issues at hand. For a more center-of-the-road opinion on all things current, I would suggest that you consider reading the Noahpinion thoughts on Substack (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). They generally outline both sides of the questions considered on a regular basis.

Private Equity Control and Increased Emergency Deaths – In the continuing saga of “private equity” critique, a new study published in Annals of Internal Medicine reported that there were seven more deaths per 10,000 or about 700 excess deaths, among the million emergency room visits reviewed as part of the study among private equity hospitals compared to non-private equity hospitals. There is an increasing amount of evidence that private equity facilities lead to worsening patient outcomes, including death. Additional research has shown that private equity acquisition has resulted in increased deaths among nursing homes, increased post-operative complications related to common inpatient surgeries, and an increase in medical complications during inpatient care such as injuries from falls, bloodstream infections, and other similar incidents. The study also noted that private equity hospital compensation for staff in the emergency departments was 18.2% lower, including an 11.6% reduction in the number of full-time clinical staff. Furthermore, for those patients with multiple conditions seen in the private equity-owned hospitals, the rate of transfer to other hospitals was 12% higher. Keeping the costs down (KMF: not a bad outcome!). I am a big advocate for “reducing costs”, but also believe we must engage in care delivery patterns that sustain quality of care. Therefore, taking note of the potential and keeping an eye on outcomes is an important part of our responsibility as stewards of quality care for patients!