Physicians talk about the pressure they feel from corporate-owned groups

While about half of U.S. physicians say they feel pressure from corporate-owned medical groups to prioritize patient volume over quality of care, 89% said they were satisfied with the quality of care they provide.

A survey of 1,000 physicians commissioned by the Physicians Advocacy Institute looked at ways that corporate ownership in American medicine is reshaping clinical practice. A July 2026 report found that corporate ownership in American medicine is “fundamentally reshaping” medical practice by “creating obstacles” that make it difficult for physicians to act in patients’ best interest.

That’s significant, the report noted, because corporations now employ more than 80% of all U.S. physicians. Private equity firms and other non-hospital corporations own more physician practices (33.2%) than hospitals and health systems (30.6%).

Corporate pressure on physicians

Here are key data points from the survey:

• 47% of physicians said they frequently feel pressure from corporate owners of medical practices to prioritize patient volume over optimal care. About one-third (28%) said they occasionally feel this pressure, while 25% said they rarely or never feel pressured.
• 59% of physicians feel pressure to keep patients within their health system, with 63% saying they face corporate barriers to referring patients out-of-network. Among physicians working for health insurers, the number who feel pressure to keep patients in their network skyrocketed to nearly 80%.

• 73% of physicians working for corporate-owned groups said their patients couldn’t get timely care or urgent appointments. Nearly half (45%) said that several times in the previous year, their patients were unable to get an appointment for an acute problem within 48 hours.

Barriers to care

In identifying barriers to care caused by corporate ownership of physician practices, insufficient staffing was listed as the No. 1 concern and identified by 74% of physicians. Administrative burden was a close second (identified by 64% of physicians) followed by inadequate time with patients (58%), pressure to prioritize financial metrics over clinical care (58%), documentation requirements during visits (53%) and limited physician autonomy in care delivery decisions (51%).

Nearly four-fifths of physicians working for corporate-owned groups (79%) said that test results or chart notes weren’t always available when needed for a patient visit. And 76% reported delays in care or treatment due to prior authorization, with 61% saying that prior authorization leads patients to abandon or delay recommended treatment.

Physician satisfaction with care

Despite those glum numbers, 89% of physicians in the survey said they were satisfied with the quality of care they provide. Only 5% of physicians said they were dissatisfied with the care they provide while working in corporate-owned groups.

Physicians working for hospitals/health systems were more likely to say they were satisfied with the care they provide (90%) compared to physicians working for organizations owned by private equity/venture capital (83%).

Effects on physicians: burnout, career plans

While 88% of physicians working for corporate-owned practices reported symptoms of burnout, the problem was more common among younger and midcareer physicians. Just over half of all physicians (51%) said symptoms of burnout were “occasional,” while 23% reported “regular” symptoms and 9% reported “persistent” symptoms. Four percent of physicians said they’re “completely burned out.”

Nearly half of physicians in the survey (44%) said they’re looking for or considering looking for a new job.

Nearly three-quarters (72%) said they had only ever worked for a corporation, not a physician-owned practice. Among physicians under 40, the report said, 87% of physicians had only ever worked for a corporate-owned organization. While 28% of physicians said they had practiced in a physician-owned setting before their current job, 59% moved to a corporate-owned practice for a better work-life balance.

Just under half of physicians (47%) said they would likely join a union, but 25% said they are unlikely to consider unionization.

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