Revised antitrust guidelines. Forming physician network joint ventures.

What do physician executives need to know about antitrust guidelines? This article presents an overview of the revised "Statements of Antitrust Enforcement Policy in the Health Care Area," released in late 1996. Antitrust concepts and implicated federal statutes are described, and implications for forming physician network joint ventures are explored. Requirements of the revised standards used by the agencies to determine a permissible integration are addressed, as well as the factors considered in antitrust scrutiny of physician ventures.