This document has been written to provide trustees with some background on what network development is and to suggest some aspects of network design and formation they might consider before entering into a partnership that some would call a "network". We hope to encourage trustees to consider networks that will develop around a truly reformed system instead of growing out of the less efficient, fragmented system we now have. By no means is this document meant to present every aspect of network design and development in the somewhat ephemeral world of health care organizational structure.

We hope as the title suggests, to introduce our readers to some of the aspects of health care network formation that may affect their decision-making process as health care leaders. Due to this highly charged time of change, we are very much aware that this document should serve more as a snapshot in time and that the details and considerations of network formation are changing all the time.