Doctors Are Disappearing from Emergency Rooms as Hospitals Look to Cut Costs

February 13, 2023

(Kaiser Health News) – The hospital declined to discuss Valle’s care, citing patient privacy. But 17 months before her three-day ordeal, Tennova had outsourced its emergency rooms to American Physician Partners, a medical staffing company owned by private equity investors. APP employs fewer doctors in its ERs as one of its cost-saving initiatives to increase earnings, according to a confidential company document obtained by KHN and NPR. This staffing strategy has permeated hospitals, and particularly emergency rooms, that seek to reduce their top expense: physician labor. (Read More)