Logo

Log In Sign Up |  An official publication of: American College of Emergency Physicians
Navigation
  • Home
  • Multimedia
    • Podcasts
    • Videos
  • Clinical
    • Airway Managment
    • Case Reports
    • Critical Care
    • Guidelines
    • Imaging & Ultrasound
    • Pain & Palliative Care
    • Pediatrics
    • Resuscitation
    • Trauma & Injury
  • Resource Centers
    • mTBI Resource Center
  • Career
    • Practice Management
      • Benchmarking
      • Reimbursement & Coding
      • Care Team
      • Legal
      • Operations
      • Quality & Safety
    • Awards
    • Certification
    • Compensation
    • Early Career
    • Education
    • Leadership
    • Profiles
    • Retirement
    • Work-Life Balance
  • Columns
    • ACEP4U
    • Airway
    • Benchmarking
    • Brief19
    • By the Numbers
    • Coding Wizard
    • EM Cases
    • End of the Rainbow
    • Equity Equation
    • FACEPs in the Crowd
    • Forensic Facts
    • From the College
    • Images in EM
    • Kids Korner
    • Medicolegal Mind
    • Opinion
      • Break Room
      • New Spin
      • Pro-Con
    • Pearls From EM Literature
    • Policy Rx
    • Practice Changers
    • Problem Solvers
    • Residency Spotlight
    • Resident Voice
    • Skeptics’ Guide to Emergency Medicine
    • Sound Advice
    • Special OPs
    • Toxicology Q&A
    • WorldTravelERs
  • Resources
    • ACEP.org
    • ACEP Knowledge Quiz
    • Issue Archives
    • CME Now
    • Annual Scientific Assembly
      • ACEP14
      • ACEP15
      • ACEP16
      • ACEP17
      • ACEP18
      • ACEP19
    • Annals of Emergency Medicine
    • JACEP Open
    • Emergency Medicine Foundation
  • About
    • Our Mission
    • Medical Editor in Chief
    • Editorial Advisory Board
    • Awards
    • Authors
    • Article Submission
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Subscribe
    • Privacy Policy
    • Copyright Information

Restrictive Covenants in Emergency Medicine Employment Contracts

By William B. Millard, PhD | on August 7, 2018 | 0 Comment
Features
  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version

This month we introduce a new feature in ACEP Now that will highlight key research studies published in this month’s issue of Annals of Emergency Medicine. The following is a summary of “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: Restrictive Covenants in Emergency Medical Practice” from the July issue of Annals of Emergency Medicine. Visit www.annemergmed.com to read the complete article.

You Might Also Like
  • Tips for Negotiating Emergency Physician Employment Contracts
  • New Employment Contract Pitfalls to Avoid
  • Council Resolutions Address Complaints, Contracts
Explore This Issue
ACEP Now: Vol 37 – No 07 – July 2018

The Role of Restrictive Covenants in Emergency Medicine Employment ContractsUnlike with other highly salaried professions such as law, many states permit physicians to enter into employment contracts that include restrictive covenants (RCs), including noncompete clauses. These can prohibit a physician from working within a defined geographic area for a predetermined period of time after the end of an employment contract. Currently, only eight states have bans or restrictions on RCs. However, both ACEP and the American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM) oppose them to varying degrees.

In some areas and practice environments, RCs appear to be common, but recently, some emergency physicians have fought them in court, finding success in some cases and failure in others. Experts such as Larry Weiss, MD, JD, professor of emergency medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore and former president of AAEM, believe that RCs are both widespread and onerous. He and others are worried that RCs might harm both physicians, who might literally have to uproot their families and move away if they were to leave their current jobs, and the communities they serve, which might face doctor shortages, should these contracts be strictly enforced.

Both ACEP and AAEM have supported some physicians in their legal struggles in some instances. For its part, ACEP opposes RCs with some exceptions, such as for individuals who have particularly strong business interests, including owners or partners of an independent physician group. AAEM has taken a harder line against RCs.

Ironically, RCs may not provide nearly as much economic benefit for employers as was previously believed. Therefore, observers such as ACEP President Paul Kivela, MD, MBA, FACEP, believe that physicians should be aware of RCs and discuss them openly at the time of employment so that bilateral expectations are clear from the beginning of any employment relationship. It may simply be that RCs fade away from common practice as their lack of practical usefulness (and, in some areas, their unenforceability) becomes more widely understood.


Dr. Millard, a frequent contributor to the Annals of Emergency Medicine “News and Perspective” section, is an independent journalist covering health, the built environment, culture, and other topics and is based in New York City.

Pages: 1 2 | Single Page

Topics: Annals of Emergency MedicineEmployment Contract

Related

  • Employment Contracts: It’s All in the Details

    January 4, 2025 - 0 Comment
  • Is It Time to Unionize?

    April 15, 2024 - 0 Comment
  • January 2024 News from the College

    January 8, 2024 - 0 Comment

Current Issue

ACEP Now May 03

Read More

No Responses to “Restrictive Covenants in Emergency Medicine Employment Contracts”

Leave a Reply Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


*
*

Wiley
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy
  • Terms of Use
  • Advertise
  • Cookie Preferences
Copyright © 2025 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining and training of artificial technologies or similar technologies. ISSN 2333-2603