There was a surge in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in health care across the board in 2021, a new industry report has found. The entire health care sector saw an "extraordinary" volume of deals, according to the report from PwC, with overall deal volumes increasing 56%. M&A activity was strong in the areas of long-term care, managed care, and rehabilitation. Physician medical groups saw a large jump (119% growth) in M&A deals.

"While long-term care was the most popular subsector, it was the number of deals targeting physician medical groups that was particularly notable: over 400 in the 12 months through November 15. This compares to about 200 to 250 deals per year during 2017 to 2019," the study said. "Practices have experienced challenging economics and may face 2022 Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services payment cuts as well, which could lead to more consolidation and private equity roll-ups."