Last year’s enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) immediately accelerated the trend toward more highly integrated models of patient care. The trend has grown even more pronounced in the area of physician practices. Hospitals across the country have been acquiring physician practices at a prodigious rate over the past year in the hopes of achieving greater clinical integration and more closely aligning the interests of referral networks to the strategic goals of the hospital.

This article describes key legal concerns and some practical considerations in acquiring physician practices. As the physician practice acquisition trend accelerates, it is of critical importance that senior management of hospitals and health systems understand the key business and legal issues underpinning the overall structure of these transactions.