The American Medical Association is taking action to ban noncompete contracts for physicians employed by for-profit or nonprofit hospitals, hospital systems or staffing company employers, according to a June 13 blog post from the AMA.
Noncompete clauses affect between 37 and 45 percent of physicians, according to the report. They limit career advancement and restrict physicians' ability to provide care in economically or socially marginalized communities.
Removing noncompete clauses is a way to improve patient access, increase the availability of specialist coverage and reduce health inequities.
The AMA delegates adopted policies to support legislation that prohibits noncompetes for physicians and oppose restrictive noncompetes as a contingency of employment for physicians-in-training.