How to tell if a primary care practice is independent or health-system owned

Why ownership changes who you call first

In the AMA's 2024 Physician Practice Benchmark Survey, 42.2% of physicians worked in private practice, down from 60.1% in 2012, and 47% worked in a practice owned by a hospital, hospital system or health system, or were employed or contracted directly by a hospital (AMA). The GAO reports that at least 47 percent of physicians were employed by or affiliated with hospital systems in 2024, up from less than 30 percent in 2012, and about 6.5 percent were in practices with private equity ownership or investment (GAO).

So in many areas a large share of the primary care practices near you belong to someone else. A system-owned practice may be expected to refer inside its system; an independent one chooses for itself. That is our reading of how referrals work, not a finding of either source, which is why we rank system-owned practices lower, not off the list.

Five checks, in the order that works

1. Read the practice's own website

   Look at the header, footer, About and Locations pages for a health system name, logo or a line such as "part of". A practice that names a system is, in most cases, system-owned or affiliated.

2. Check where the patient links go

   A patient portal, bill-pay or booking link that opens on a health system's domain is a strong hint. Treat it as a hint, not proof.

3. Look at the name on the listing

   Some practices carry the system's name in their Google Maps or directory listing; independent ones usually carry their own name.

4. Ask the front desk

   "Is the practice independent or part of a system?" takes one call, and it also tells you who handles referrals.

5. Record what you found

   Mark each practice independent, system-owned or unknown, and note the date. Ownership changes when practices are bought.

Why no free list gives you this

The NPI Registry publishes each provider's name, specialty (taxonomy) and practice address, and you can search it by ZIP; it does not publish who owns a practice (help). Google Maps shows listings, not owners. That is why ownership is usually a manual step, and why a plan that starts from a bare list of physicians (see physician email lists vs a ranked list) leaves the most useful question unanswered.

What to do with each answer

Where Leadaura fits

For every practice in a Leadaura run we read the practice's own website for a health system name and mark it independent, system-owned or unknown, then rank with that in view. It is a read of public web pages, so unknown stays unknown instead of being guessed. See how this works for medical specialties.

Questions