Antitrust Treatment of Physician-Hospital Integration Post-FTC v. St. Luke's

Washington, D.C. partners Rob McCann and Ken Vorrasi published “Antitrust Treatment of Physician-Hospital Integration Post-FTC v. St. Luke’s” in Antitrust magazine. In FTC v. St. Luke’s Health System, the FTC and Idaho Attorney General successfully challenged St. Luke’s acquisition of a group of primary care physicians in Idaho. This matter is just one instance in which hospital-physician acquisitions, historically able to avoid antitrust scrutiny, have begun to receive more attention. The article examines the St. Luke’s case, as well as other recent instances of antitrust enforcement in the hospital arena, and what these may mean for the future of hospital-physician acquisitions.