A new report released today shows that Fresno’s health care market is changing. The number of people with health coverage has seen a significant increase, which has been good for the bottom line of local hospitals. Other market forces are pushing local physicians to consolidate their private practices into larger medical groups, often affiliated with hospitals.
Competition is also growing between providers, including federally qualified health centers and rural health clinics. Those are some of the findings from the new study by the California Health Care Foundation, which is also a supporter of Valley Public Radio. We talked with study co-author Amanda Lechner about what the findings mean for local patients.