Here are five key moves and studies since August about private equity and physicians:

New Mexico-based Presbyterian Health Services plans to outsource its physician recruitment for its Santa Fe location to Sound Physicians, a private equity-backed staffing firm, the Albuquerque Journal reported Jan. 11. 

Emergency physicians and consumer advocates across several states are seeking to ban private equity staffing practices, according to a Dec. 27 report from Tennessee Lookout.

Boynton Beach, Fla.-based multispecialty physician group Medical Specialists of the Palm Beaches has secured a private equity investment, the company said Dec. 5. 

A total of 245 private equity transactions took place in the third quarter of 2022, a 12 percent increase year over year, according to a report from business intelligence company Irving Levin Associates.  

More than half of physician medical group deals involved private equity investors each year from 2017 to 2021, according to VMG Health's Annual Healthcare M&A Report 2022.

Mays & Schnapp Neurospine and Pain has completed its private equity partnership with Compass Group Equity Partners, with strategic advice coming from Physician Growth Partners.

Orthopedic Care Partners has closed an investment in a state-of-the-art ASC in Wentzville, Miss.

U.S. Orthopaedic Partners, a private equity-backed management services organization, could soon be expanding into Georgia, its third state, according to Rebusiness Online. 

Private equity investments have grown in the spine and orthopedic space, with many physicians taking advantage of the opportunities it offers. However, there are also concerns among experts about the long-term viability of taking outside capital.

Private equity-backed U.S. Urology Partners is adding Ormond Beach-based group practice Florida Urology Center.

Increasing consolidation and COVID-19 have accelerated private equity's interest in ASCs. 

The number of private equity-backed healthcare deals has significantly declined in the first half of the year, according to findings from New York City-based consulting firm Oliver Wyman. 

EyeSouth partners has completed an affiliation with Raleigh Ophthalmology, the organization's 31st affiliation, and its first in North Carolina, according to a Sept. 6 press release shared with Becker's. 

Across six specialties, 4.9 percent of physicians worked in private equity-backed practices in 2019, according to a study published in JAMA Health Forum.

Washington, D.C., Arizona and New Jersey are the top three hot spots for private equity firms acquiring physician practices, according to a study published in JAMA Health Forum. 

While private equity investment can provide stable funding and allow practices to be innovative, it may be incompatible with physician practice ethics and sustainability, the American Medical Association wrote in a recent blog post. 

Southlake, Texas-based GI Alliance has received a $785 million investment from private equity firm Apollo Global Management, Bloomberg reported Aug. 19.

New Providence, N.J.-based Prism Vision Group, a vertically integrated eye care services organization, has added Seidenberg Protzko Eye Associates to its platform.