Physician independence is shrinking.
But the more important question is why.
Recent analysis from the Physicians Advocacy Institute and Avalere Health estimates that only about 36% of physician practices remain independently owned.
Independent medicine did not decline because physicians became less capable clinicians.
It became harder because the responsibilities of physician leadership expanded faster than the institutions supporting it.
Today’s physician leaders must simultaneously navigate reimbursement pressure, workforce shortages, technology investment, recruitment, governance, succession planning, payer relationships, and growth.
And these decisions do not arrive one at a time.
Recruitment affects economics. Economics determine investment capacity. Governance shapes which opportunities an organization can pursue. Each decision changes the context for the next one.
Independent physician groups are no longer simply managing medical practices. They are leading increasingly sophisticated enterprises, often without the executive support available to larger institutions.
This is why I founded OptionPath Partners.
We work alongside independent physician groups to strengthen executive leadership, preserve institutional context, and improve the quality of consequential decisions over time without taking authority away from physician leaders.
Independence is worth preserving.
But independence doesn’t mean alone.