Clinician noncompetes may soon be null & void
Top of the Week
“Noncompetes Depress Wages and Kill Innovation” is the title of an op-ed by Lina Khan, chairperson of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), announcing a proposed ban on non-compete agreements. Khan, a fierce anti-monopolist, is not messing around.
Khan’s explanation of the ban’s importance: “The freedom to change jobs is core to economic liberty and to a competitive, thriving economy. Noncompetes block workers from freely switching jobs, depriving them of higher wages and better working conditions, and depriving businesses of a talent pool that they need to build and expand. By ending this practice, the FTC’s proposed rule would promote greater dynamism, innovation, and healthy competition.”
The FTC’s proposed rule is currently in its public comment period. The rule is expected to face legal challenges from opponents such as the Chamber of Commerce.
An estimated 40% of physicians are bound by noncompete agreements with their employers, which typically prevent them from working for competitors within a 30-mile radius for one or two years. A survey of primary care physicians found that 45% had noncompete agreements. Emergency physicians can be sued for breach of noncompetes - this case for example.
Emergency clinicians are currently among the most burnt-out and unsatisfied medical specialists. Lifting restrictions on changing jobs may enable EM clinicians to find more satisfying jobs and incentivize employers to improve ED working conditions.
EM Practice
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House of Medicine
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Hospitals & Health Systems
Rural hospitals with the worst and best margins.
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Nursing & Allied Health
7,000 nurses went on strike in New York over pay, staffing, and working conditions.
The Dispo
Damar Hamlin, the Buffalo Bills football player who suffered an on-field cardiac arrest, was resuscitated by an impressive team of emergency physicians. Check out ESPN’s report on how the NFL’s emergency action plan saved Hamlin’s life. If you want to see how far cardiac arrest care has progressed, with EM leading the way, compare Hamlin’s resuscitation to that of Hank Gathers in 1990.