Sale of physician practices to hospitals and ppmc's

Just got back from the annual meeting of the NSCHBC. Great sessions were offered regarding a number of issues concerning medical and dental practices. One particular session discussed hospital-physician integrations and the sale of medical practices to hospitals. I was surprised to hear that the volume of these hospital deals have been picking up, but as expected, hospitals are largely unable to cash-out physician sellers. I also read a piece in AMA News recently about physician practice management companies getting back into the game and buying medical practices. But the volume of these deals pales in comparison to the acquisition mania of the 1990's and they mostly seem to be inpatient practice purchases. Corporate deals and larger-entity acquisitions are still happening but have not pick up major steam as many had expected. Many buyers will continue to be cautious in an uncertain regulatory and reimbursement climate. However, physician to physician practice sales still seem to be flowing at a steady rate.