The new competitive enterprise: the behavioral healthcare PHO

The physician-hospital organization (PHO), whether in a general medical context or in the specialty of behavioral healthcare, represents an intermediate step or model in the process of integration required by current market forces in healthcare. This article describes both general medical and behavioral healthcare PHOs and analyzes the model's competitive advantages in the behavioral healthcare arena. The ways in which behavioral PHOs interface with other practice delivery models is described, along with their advantages and the factors leading to their success.