In response to healthcare reform, terms such as “physician alignment strategies” and “physician integration” have resurfaced in our vocabulary as healthcare providers.  In our new healthcare environment, many experts advocate that only hospitals that are aligned, or integrated, with their physician providers will be able to organize delivery systems that are capable of meeting current and future demands for efficiency, quality, price and services expected from patients and payers.  As the demands on health care providers continue to escalate, will experts also someday advocate that only hospitals that are aligned with other hospitals, or other health systems, be positioned to meet the then-current and future expectations related to providing high-quality and cost-efficient health care?

As the future of hospital and physician alignment strategies continue to evolve, more physicians, hospitals and health systems are affiliating.  Even large organizations such hospitals and health systems are teaming together to form loose associations in order to better manage the demands for efficiency, quality, price and service being thrust upon all providers by health reform, payers and patients.

There are a number of recent examples of health systems and hospitals forming strategic alignments to better manage healthcare costs and patient care.