"Hospitals' Battle to Restrict Former Doctors' Patient Access"
Originally Published 1 year ago — by NBC News
Doctors across the United States are facing legal battles over noncompete agreements that restrict them from seeing patients in the same geographic region if they leave their jobs. These agreements, increasingly common in the healthcare industry, have been criticized for contributing to physician shortages, disrupting patient care, and deterring doctors from speaking out about unsafe conditions. While hospitals argue that noncompetes are necessary to protect their investments in recruiting and training doctors, critics, including physician groups, argue that these agreements harm patients and sever doctor-patient relationships. President Biden has pledged to ban noncompetes across the economy, and the FTC is considering a proposed ban.