In January, the FTC proposed a new federal rule that would ban all non-compete clauses, except for in a few limited exceptions, and would require companies to rescind any existing non-compete agreements at the time of the rule’s effective compliance date. The proposed FTC rule would apply to all businesses including healthcare, such as physicians practices and hospitals. Healthcare in some states, like Pennsylvania, has been reliant on non-compete agreements, and should the proposed rule be finalized, it would have a significant impact for physicians and those healthcare institutions that employ physicians.

Restrictive covenants, also known as non-compete agreements, have been a hot button issue that the physicians of Allegheny County have been very vocal about over the years. The ACMS will be working collaboratively with the Pennsylvania Medical Society, and our counterparts in other parts of the state, to ensure we are advocating properly for the physicians in Allegheny County.

The ACMS, in collaboration with the Philadelphia County Medical Society, has put forth an informational-only blog post. We will keep members updated with more information as we receive relevant updates.