There's no single right answer to this, and most of what a physician reads on the topic argues one side without acknowledging the tradeoffs on the other. The deal structures behind a private equity acquisition are more specific than "sell the practice," and understanding the mechanics, the MSO or friendly PC structure, the income scrape, the multiple being applied to your EBITDA, matters more than the headline number in a term sheet.
What changes after acquisition varies by deal and by sponsor, but some patterns are common: administrative and back office functions typically consolidate, growth capital becomes available for expansion that would have been slow or impossible independently, and physician autonomy over business decisions typically decreases, even when clinical autonomy is contractually protected.
Written by John M. Abrahams, MD — board-certified neurosurgeon, founder of New York Brain & Spine Surgery.
Related: Risks & Benefits of Private Equity in Healthcare
More in Private equity: How a Private Equity Healthcare Deal Actually Works