The executive order President Joe Biden released last week asks federal agencies to harness their power in regulating competition, nudging the Federal Trade Commission to ban or limit noncompete agreements — including in healthcare.
Roughly half of private-sector businesses require at least some employees to enter noncompete agreements, according to a 2019 study from the Economic Policy Institute.
Such agreements are typically used by employers to protect trade secrets and confidential business information, though they hinder employees from finding work elsewhere, namely at competing companies. In the healthcare sector, physicians regularly sign noncompete agreements that restrict them from leaving, taking their patients and setting up their own competing practice nearby.
