Regulatory agencies, such as Certificate-of-Need (CON) Review Boards, generally look favorably upon JVs between physicians and hospitals.

As capital dollars are scarce, JVs represent a wise approach. Risk and reward is mutually shared, and duplication is avoided. Capital dollars, for both parties, are available for investment in other initiatives.

Operational risks are minimized as a newer and stronger team of experts emerges. Physicians will have significant opportunities for input into facility design and clinical care processes that impact quality and patient experiences. Hospitals will have significant opportunities to leverage their ability to access capital, negotiate favorable reimbursement agreements, and implement effective administrative policies and practices.

Emotional chain reactions often result when physicians embark on proprietary journeys without the hospital, or when hospitals commit to strategic initiatives without key physician input. This almost always leads to hyper competition, years of mistrust, the hospital recruiting "its own docs", and the physicians viewing the hospital as nothing more than a commodity.

JVs between hospitals and physicians places control where it should be - in the community where the providers and their patients live and work.

With the success of the first JV, the foundation is laid for future successful endeavors between hospitals and physicians.

Successful physician-hospital JVs will prove attractive to physicians who may consider relocation to that community in the future.

Communities appreciate and benefit from collaborative relationships between their healthcare providers, positioning JVs as a proactive long-term strategy, rather than a reactive short-term strategy.