Do Small Physician Practices Have a Future?

In the wake of MACRA’s passage in 2015, some are wondering whether the sprawling law—aimed at moving Medicare to pay physicians for the value rather than the volume of services provided—will favor larger practices at the expense of smaller ones. Yet over the past three decades, there has been a marked shift in the U.S. toward large physician practices. On To the Point, The Commonwealth Fund’s David Squires and David Blumenthal, M.D., look at what is driving the increase in practice size and how small practices can adjust to the new paradigm.