The Pennsylvania House has passed legislation that would ban noncompete clauses for  physicians, certified registered nurse practitioners and physician assistants.

The Federal Trade Commission will hold an open meeting to vote on its proposed noncompete ban April 23.

The American Medical Association backed the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's recommendations for Congress to reform Medicare payments.

CMS settled a record-breaking $12.56 million in Stark law voluntary self-referral disclosure settlements in 2022, according to recent CMS data.

Physicians, state governments and the Federal Trade Commission are all battling to reform policy surrounding noncompete clauses, which prohibit physicians from seeing patients one to two years within a geographic region if they are fired or quit their job.

Noncompete clauses are facing increasing scrutiny, as physicians, states and even the Federal Trade Commission look to reform policy. 

Hospitals, health systems and physicians faced big Stark law penalties in 2023.

Patient and provider interest in ASCs is rising, but markets that have stringent certificate-of-need laws could struggle, leaders say. 

ASCs are becoming an increasingly popular site of service for patients, and payers are taking note. 

Physicians have continued to see Medicare payment cuts year over year, with a 2% cut in 2023 being followed by a 1.68% cut in 2024, according to an April 8 report from the American Medical Association. 

Medicare pay cuts are making it difficult for many smaller, independent physician practices to meet margins. 

Becker's connected with M. Shafeeq Ahmed, MD, president of Johns Hopkins Howard County Medical Center in Columbia, Md., to discuss the risks the increasing number of physicians electing not to accept payments from Medicare poses to care delivery as a whole.

Nearly half of health systems are considering dropping Medicare Advantage, according to a survey from the Healthcare Financial Management Association and Eliciting Insights. 

Approximately 15% of all medical claims sent to insurers are denied, including claims that were pre-approved, according to a recent report by healthcare solutions and research company Premier.

Maine is poised to be the next state to ban noncompete agreements, the National Law Review reported March 25. 

Some of the largest recoveries by the Justice Department in the last year were Stark law violations, and some leaders worry the policy is hurting physicians rather than preventing corruption. 

CMS moves are changing the way physicians practice. Here are four recent moves from CMS that are either helping or hurting physicians:

The push to revamp prior authorization practices has picked up steam recently.

The New York City Council is considering bills that would ban noncompetes after Gov. Kathy Hochul in December vetoed a bill that would have prohibited them statewide, Newsday reported March 17. 

A bill amending Washington's noncompete policy was signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee on March 13, according to a news release from the Washington Senate Democrats.