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House of Representatives
Session of 2013 - 2014 Regular Session

MEMORANDUM

Posted:	May 2, 2014 11:19 AM
From:	Representative Jim Christiana
To:	All House members
Subject:	Ban on Non-Compete Agreements for Health Care Practitioners

In the near future, I will be introducing legislation which will prevent the use of non-compete agreements in health care practitioner’s employment contracts. Recently, the House considered and unanimously approved a Resolution, HR 735 which calls for a study on the physician shortage crisis the Commonwealth is facing. Unfortunately, this is not just a problem for physicians, but rather with all health care practitioners. This is troubling at a time when the demand for health care professionals is ever increasing and resulting in a loss of qualified talent to other states. My legislation would deem any non-compete language in an employment agreement for a health care practitioner to be against public policy. I have heard from health care professionals, who have spent large sums of money on their education and training that they cannot continue to provide care for their patients simply because they have changed employers. These disruptions in care harm patients and result in more health care costs across the state. The legislation would allow health care practitioners to alert their patients to the new affiliation and allow the patient the option to follow the health care provider to the new location. It would not apply to any additional services provided by the individual outside their scope of practice or to trade secrets or confidential information learned through the course of the prior employment. If you have any questions or concerns on this legislation, please contact my office at (717)-260-6144. Thank you.

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