As the healthcare market continues to change, going forward, hospitals and physicians will need to collaborate more due to evolving consumer expectations, advances in medical technology, and a changing reimbursement environment. Too often, the relationships are doomed to fail from the beginning for lack of clear goals, sufficient understanding of how economic success will be realized for both parties, and structural/operating differences between physician/clinic and hospital operations.The discussion will address how best to develop a working framework for assessing a physician group and developing successful collaborative models for:Participating in joint ventures such as surgery centers, Endo centers, or specialty specific programs (i.e. Women's Health Center)Developing joint infrastructure capabilities such as Electronic Medical Records Acquisition of physicians or a physician group Creating a physician group as a supporting service