Academic Medical Centers and Community Hospitals Integration: Trends and Strategies

Academic medical centers are widely recognized as vital components of the American health care system, generally differentiated from their community hospital peers by their tripartite mission of clinical care, education, and research. Community hospitals fill a critical and complementary role, serving as the primary sites for health care in most communities. Health care reform initiatives and economic pressures have created incentives for hospitals and health systems to integrate, resulting in a nationwide trend toward consolidation with academic medical centers leveraging their substantial assets to merge, acquire, or establish partnerships with their community peers. As these alliances accelerate, they have and will continue to affect the radiology groups providing services at these institutions. A deeper understanding of these new marketplace dynamics, changing relationships and potential strategies will help both academic and private practice radiologists adapt to this ongoing change.