Haddad DN, et al. - The characteristics of surgical practices associated with vertical integration were determined and the effect of integration on surgical access for Medicaid populations was assessed. Researchers utilized a survey of US office-based physician practices to determine the characteristics of 15 surgical subspecialties from 2007 to 2017, including provider gender and specialty, practice payer mix, surgical volume, and county socioeconomic status. In this analysis, 84,795 unique surgical practices were included (303,903 practice-years). During the 10-year period, the rate of vertical integration of 18.0% was reported; there were 72.1% of surgical practices that were never integrated. They identified a higher likelihood of surgical practices caring for the underinsured to join larger healthcare systems, driven by market characteristics. An association of vertical integration with future increased rates of Medicaid acceptance among practices was noted, allowing for enhanced access to surgical care for vulnerable, low-income patients. They recommend balancing the potential benefit of increased surgical access for low-income beneficiaries from vertical integration with the potential for increased prices.