Association of Private Equity Investment in Health Care With Medical Education Disruptions

Private equity investment in health care has increased, attracted by the growing commercialization of this industry sector and the profit possibilities of an aging population, and is consequently affecting medical education and the education of other health care professionals. The goal of private equity-generating profit from financial investment in a relatively short period-is not aligned with the goals of the medical and health care education systems. This lack of alignment has already disrupted several education programs, most notably the ones at Philadelphia's Hahnemann University Hospital in 2019, and has the potential to disrupt and destabilize many other programs and institutions, even if they do not close. In the long term, this lack of alignment can detract from the primary mission of medical and health care education. Private equity investment may favor specialties that are more lucrative for a health care system, whereas those that are less financially profitable but can have a greater positive impact on the health of society may receive less financial support. Without appropriate laws, regulations, and policies to blunt potential negative impacts, ongoing private equity investment into the health care system could exacerbate the imbalance in the number of physicians trained in various specialties, thus placing a larger strain on the national health care system.