The PPMC Debate. (Part 2 the Future of Health Care) (Physician Practice Management Companies‪)‬

THERE ARE APPROXIMATELY 40 PUBLICLY OWNED and 138 privately owned physician practice management companies (PPMCs) in the United States today. (1) With the frenetic pace of mergers, acquisitions, bankruptcies, new incorporations, and initial public offerings, these numbers can change weekly, if not daily. But the industry's best days may still be ahead because only about 5 percent of American physicians are currently affiliated with PPMCs. Some of these physicians sold their practices to PPMCs outright and signed employment contracts. Some groups entered into long-term equity acquisition arrangements in which PPMCs bought their practices for cash or PPMC stock. Some were physicians in independent practice associations (IPAs) who retained PPMCs to provide management services and access to managed care contracts. And some physicians collaborated with PPMCs in still other innovative ways.