Dive Brief:
- Physician staffing giant TeamHealth has acquired Dallas-based Emergency Medical Consultants and its affiliated businesses for an undisclosed sum.
- EMC — with about 330 physicians and 80 advanced practice clinicians — provides emergency medicine staffing for 24 facilities and one urgent care center in a number of health systems in north Texas. Its clients include Texas Health Resources and Methodist Health System.
- The deal is TeamHealth’s first since it was acquired by The Blackstone Group in late 2016.
Dive Insight:
This is TeamHealth’s second purchase of an ER staffing firm. In October 2016, the company bought Maitland, Florida-based Florida Emergency Physicians (FEP). FEP provides staffing for 11 facilities across five counties within the Florida Hospital health system, according to Crunchbase.
Competition in the physician staffing market has heated up in recent years. AmSurg tried unsuccessfully several years ago to woo TeamHealth into its portfolio. At the time, TeamHealth was in the process of purchasing IPC Healthcare, which provides healthcare aides for nursing homes and post-acute care.
Determined to expand its footprint, AmSurg scooped up Envision Healthcare in 2016, creating a combined company with an estimated $8.5 billion in annual revenue.
The growing physician shortage is creating lots of demand for contract physicians. According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the physician shortage could reach 105,000 by 2030. Uncertainty of the future of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program could exacerbate the shortage further by eliminating thousands of future physicians and hospital works.