Doctors and unions: is collective bargaining the cure for physicians' labor pains?
Increasing governmental regulation, the proliferation of alternative health-care options, and a glut of physicians in some areas have substantially affected the way physicians practice medicine today. Health-care consumers are not the only people affected. Where physicians were once their own bosses, many now find themselves as employers of health-care providers. In this new role, physicians are now considering union representation as a vehicle to assert their interests and concerns. This article examines why some doctors favor unionization, why some oppose it, and the legal implications of unionized physicians.
D004651:Employment; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations / Q000458:organization & administration; D007325:Institutional Practice / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D007750:Labor Unions / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D008503:Medical Staff / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D014481:United States; D014485:United States Federal Trade Commission