Vertical integration: the wave of the future?

In today's environment, health care facilities need to expend more resources in developing comprehensive and coordinated health care systems that provide, preferably on one site, ambulatory and acute care, long-term care, mental health, physical medicine and rehabilitation, home health, wellness centers, and an integrated prepayment plan as a joint venture with the institution's medical staff. The wave of the future (the next several years) will be toward vertical diversification because of increased price competition for a broad range of services, an industry with a surplus of acute care beds, and an interest by existing multihospital systems in improving their present positions by diversification rather than growth for growth's sake.