In a Nov. 4 response to the Federal Trade Commission’s request for information on how noncompete clauses impact healthcare businesses, the Society of Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions connects the negative effects of noncompete clauses to rising consolidation within the healthcare industry.
Here are five takeaways from the organization’s response:
1. SCAI contends that noncompete agreements in employment contracts, particularly those that impose geographic restrictions on where physicians may seek new employment, have become problematic due to the regional conglomeration of healthcare systems.
2. SCAI cites a 2010 report by the Antitrust Division of the Justice Department that identified more than 80% of hospital markets in the U.S. as “highly concentrated.”
3. Hospitals and health systems are also increasingly buying up physician practices, “a concerning trend with the potential to further shield hospitals from competition from and among physician practices,” SCAI writes, citing a recent report by Avalere that found 70% of physicians to be employed by hospitals and health systems.
4. SCAI also identified growing concern that hospital credential policies are being used to promote corporate economic interests and stifle competition instead of promoting professional standards and quality care.
5. “Many SCAI members have been at the receiving end of these anticompetitive trends,” the organization writes. In 2010, approximately 80-85% of SCAI members practiced medicine in office-based or group practices, whereas in 2025, more than 85% of those same members are employed by hospitals and health systems.
