February 14, 2022 – Bloomberg recently examined why private investors, retailers and health insurers are investing billions of dollars into primary-care ventures.
“U.S. companies focused on primary care raised about $16 billion from investors in 2021, according to unpublished research by Harvard scholars,” Bloomberg reported. “That’s more than four times the amount invested in 2020 and up from just $15 million reported in 2010, they said. The researchers tallied private investment, strategic acquisitions and public-market debuts of primary-care companies in a recent New England Journal of Medicine article.”
Hospitals have long sought to fold in physician practices to drive referrals for specialty care, Bloomberg reported. Now, they face more competition from health insurers, drug-store chains, investment firms and tech-focused upstarts.
It’s why CVS Health Corp., parent of insurer Aetna, plans to put doctors in up to 350 of its retail stores. “What we’re trying to really do now is primary care and wield significant influence across the continuum of health care,” CVS Chief Executive Officer Karen Lynch.