PAI report finds 82% of U.S. physicians are now employed

More than 4 in 5 U.S. physicians are now employed by hospitals, health systems, or corporate entities, according to a new report from Avalere Health for the Physicians Advocacy Institute.

The report found that 82% of physicians were employed by hospitals or corporate entities as of January 1, 2026. Hospitals employed 59.7% of physicians, while corporate entities employed 22.3%.

Physician-owned settings accounted for the remaining 18%, the lowest level reported in the nearly decade-long analysis.

From 2024 to 2026, hospitals and corporate entities employed 48,100 additional physicians. Over the full 2018 to 2026 period, 253,000 additional physicians became employees of hospitals or corporate entities.

Practice ownership followed a similar pattern. Hospitals and corporate entities owned 157,200 physician practices, or 63.9% of all practices, as of January 2026.

Nearly 13,900 practices were acquired from 2024 to 2026. Corporate entities acquired 8,000 of those practices, compared with 5,800 acquired by hospitals.

Corporate ownership continued to exceed hospital ownership, with corporate entities owning 33.2% of physician practices and hospitals owning 30.6%.

Hospitals drove most recent physician employment growth, adding 44,000 physicians to payrolls in 2024 and 2025, an 8.2% increase, according to PAI.

Corporate physician employment grew by 0.9% over the same period, even as corporate practice ownership increased by 10.2%.

Kelly Kenney, CEO of PAI, said “Corporate profits must never take precedence over patients.”

Rural markets mirrored the national trend. PAI reported that 80.2% of rural physicians were employed and 67.8% of rural practices were owned by hospitals or corporate entities.

Avalere used IQVIA OneKey data covering physician and practice information from January 2018 through January 2026.