Newsletters

04.23.18

Physicians’ Employment Agreements Raise Antitrust Concerns

Earlier this month, a physician group sued a healthcare system in North Carolina state court, accusing it of monopolization by including overly restrictive covenants in physicians’ employment agreements, thereby preventing the physicians from leaving and practicing independently.


03.20.18

FTC Alleges Dental Supply Companies Conspired to Avoid Discounts

The federal antitrust agencies are continuing to focus on anticompetitive practices by healthcare companies, most recently in the dental industry.


02.21.18

Physician No-Poach Agreements in the Antitrust Spotlight

“No-poach” or “no-hire” agreements involve employers agreeing not to steal each other’s employees, and have long been a feature of industries in which skilled talent is in short supply.


01.25.18

Potential Impacts on Telehealth From Net Neutrality Repeal

On December 14, 2017, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) passed the Restoring Internet Freedom Order (RIFO), repealing the FCC’s 2015 “net neutrality” rules and shifting the responsibility for regulating the conduct of Internet service providers (ISPs) to the Federal ...


12.18.17

The Next Frontier in Hospital Mergers: Crossing Geographic Markets

With the Federal Trade Commission’s successful track record in challenging mergers of provider systems operating in the same geographic area, several hospitals are looking farther afield for merger partners.


11.21.17

Texas Medical Board Immune From Antitrust Suit

In 2015, the Supreme Court injected great uncertainty into the operation of state medical boards with its ruling in North Carolina Board of Dental Examiners v. FTC, 135 S. Ct. 1101 (2015), that when a state board is controlled by active market participants, that entity must be actively supervised ...


10.24.17

Tennessee Approves Ballad Health COPA Over FTC Protests

In the face of the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) string of litigation successes over the last several years challenging hospital mergers on antitrust grounds, there has been an increased focus on the potential use of state Certificate of Public Advantage (COPA) laws to gain ...


09.18.17

Boycott Claims Dismissed for Applying Per Se Standard

In 2012, MCEP, a 26-bed adult acute care hospital, sued Premier, a not-for-profit corporation formed by a Joint Operating Agreement among Atrium Health System, Catholic Health Initiatives, MedAmerica Health Systems Corporation, Samaritan Health Partners and UVMC. MCEP alleged that the defendants ...


08.23.17

By Antitrust Standards, When Is a Firm Really Failing?

The “failing firm” defense as a justification for permitting a merger that may otherwise lessen competition gets considerable play in healthcare transactions.


07.24.17

The FTC Continues to Challenge Healthcare Mergers

Confirming that hospital merger enforcement continues to be a priority under the new administration, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the North Dakota Attorney General recently challenged Sanford Health’s proposed acquisition of Mid Dakota Clinic.