Reporter Paul Barr recaps the highlights of Modern Healthcare's 19th Annual Mergers and Acquisitions Report. Joint venture deals continued to be popular in 2012, while not-for-profit hospitals and systems were big buyers and sellers.

For more on the year in M&A in 2012 and why hospital executives were making deals, read Modern Healthcare's M&A report story.

And take a look at the individual hospital transactions that were announced, outstanding or closed during the year, by reading the M&A report chart.

A separate listing of 2012's 20 biggest mergers and acquisitions in all of healthcare can be found in By the Numbers.

Also covering healthcare as a whole, the Healthcare M&A Watch analyzes deal-making for each quarter of the year, and lists the largest deals in major sectors.