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Why Private Equity Is Furious Over a Paper in a Dermatology Journal
The article in question is titled, “The corporatization of dermatology:the elephant in the room”
Can you imagine one of our journals publishing an article about AMCs? It’s about time since they have immense influence in our field. Hopefully the authors will simply post the article and bypass the journal which is apparently corrupt.
“Dr. Dirk Elston, the journal’s editor, said in an email that he replaced the article with a notice of “temporary removal” after receiving multiple calls and emails “expressing concerns about the accuracy of a few parts” of the article.
On Wednesday, nearly two weeks after removing the article, Dr. Elston told the authors they had a choice: They could correct “factual errors” or retract the paper.
The authors maintain that the article does not contain any factual errors and that several of the corrections requested had to do with protecting the reputation of the specialty and the leaders of the American Academy of Dermatology, the association that publishes the journal. Later on Wednesday, they submitted some revisions.
The article had gone through the standard editorial process of academic journals, undergoing multiple revisions based on feedback from peer-reviewers selected by the journal, before being accepted for publication. It presents data to support a conclusion that private equity firms acquire “outlier” practices — that is, practices that perform an unusually high number of well-reimbursed procedures and bill high amounts to Medicare.
“It was interesting when we ran the numbers and we were counting how many practices with billing outliers were being acquired by private equity,” said Dr. Joseph Francis, a dermatologist in Florida who is a co-author on the paper. “With every revision of the paper, that number kept increasing. So it didn’t seem like an anomaly.”
He added, “It wasn’t clear whether these investors realized that the high billing might point to anything irregular. They might have just seen that this was a practice with booming business.”
The paper also notes that many practices backed by private equity firms have opened or acquired labs to process pathology specimens, potentially another source of profit.
Among those who objected to the article was Dr. George Hruza, the incoming president of the American Academy of Dermatology. Dr. Hruza, whose one-year term as president begins in March, is a dermatologist in Chesterfield, Mo. In 2016 he sold his own dermatology practice to United Skin Specialists, a firm that manages dermatology practices and is backed by private equity. He currently serves on the board of directors of United Skin Specialists, which he said is an unpaid position.”
The article in question is titled, “The corporatization of dermatology:the elephant in the room”
Can you imagine one of our journals publishing an article about AMCs? It’s about time since they have immense influence in our field. Hopefully the authors will simply post the article and bypass the journal which is apparently corrupt.
“Dr. Dirk Elston, the journal’s editor, said in an email that he replaced the article with a notice of “temporary removal” after receiving multiple calls and emails “expressing concerns about the accuracy of a few parts” of the article.
On Wednesday, nearly two weeks after removing the article, Dr. Elston told the authors they had a choice: They could correct “factual errors” or retract the paper.
The authors maintain that the article does not contain any factual errors and that several of the corrections requested had to do with protecting the reputation of the specialty and the leaders of the American Academy of Dermatology, the association that publishes the journal. Later on Wednesday, they submitted some revisions.
The article had gone through the standard editorial process of academic journals, undergoing multiple revisions based on feedback from peer-reviewers selected by the journal, before being accepted for publication. It presents data to support a conclusion that private equity firms acquire “outlier” practices — that is, practices that perform an unusually high number of well-reimbursed procedures and bill high amounts to Medicare.
“It was interesting when we ran the numbers and we were counting how many practices with billing outliers were being acquired by private equity,” said Dr. Joseph Francis, a dermatologist in Florida who is a co-author on the paper. “With every revision of the paper, that number kept increasing. So it didn’t seem like an anomaly.”
He added, “It wasn’t clear whether these investors realized that the high billing might point to anything irregular. They might have just seen that this was a practice with booming business.”
The paper also notes that many practices backed by private equity firms have opened or acquired labs to process pathology specimens, potentially another source of profit.
Among those who objected to the article was Dr. George Hruza, the incoming president of the American Academy of Dermatology. Dr. Hruza, whose one-year term as president begins in March, is a dermatologist in Chesterfield, Mo. In 2016 he sold his own dermatology practice to United Skin Specialists, a firm that manages dermatology practices and is backed by private equity. He currently serves on the board of directors of United Skin Specialists, which he said is an unpaid position.”
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