"Doctors’ spat with Atrium Health spills into rare public view"

[Carbocation1]

Doctors’ spat with Atrium Health spills into rare public view

Doctors’ spat with Atrium Health spills into rare public view

BY DEON ROBERTS

[email protected]
March 13, 2018 04:40 PM

Updated 1 hour 22 minutes ago

Atrium Health and a group of about 100 anesthesiologists who work at its Charlotte-area hospitals are preparing to part ways, in a contract spat that’s spilling into public view.

Atrium plans to replace Southeast Anesthesiology Consultants with a new provider, a move that ends a roughly 40-year relationship between the two Charlotte-based companies, according to memos obtained by the Observer. The decision means Southeast’s contract will terminate on June 30, after which Scope Anesthesia of North Carolina will be the new provider, memos show.

[READ MORE: Atrium Health reveals what its top executives were paid in 2017]

Contract-renewal talks between hospital systems and doctors are nothing new. What’s unusual here is the public airing of discussions that are normally kept highly private.

[READ MORE: Questions about control kill merger deal between Atrium Health and UNC Health Care]

As the dispute unfolded, Southeast has taken out full-page ads in the Observer. The ads, such as one this past Sunday, don’t mention contract talks but tout the quality of Southeast’s physicians and that the company has served the community for nearly four decades.

In their memos, both sides accuse each other of misinformation in describing impacts from the contract termination.

Southeast has expressed concerns the change will lead to reduced anesthesiologist staffing at Atrium hospitals and other changes that could impact patient care under the deal with Scope. The termination will affect Southeast doctors who worked at Atrium’s flagship hospital in Dilworth and others, including in Lincolnton, Pineville and Charlotte’s Elizabeth neighborhood, according to Southeast’s memo to local doctors.

In an email last month to Charlotte Mayor Pro Tem Julie Eiselt, one Southeast doctor wrote that Atrium wants to remove the group from its operating rooms, “and we think that this decision puts our community members at risk.” The anesthesiologists “believe that the community should know about this, and that they should be able to weigh in on the decision,” the doctor wrote.

[READ MORE: Renamed Atrium Health plans to combine with another Southern hospital system]

Defending its decision, Atrium said in a memo to its employees that it has developed an improved model for providing anesthesiology services that reduces patient costs while maintaining safe, high-quality care. During talks for a new contract, Southeast’s proposal did not offer to fully implement that model in all Atrium’s facilities, Atrium said.

Southeast is part of Florida-based Mednax, whose subsidiary American Anesthesiology acquired Southeast in 2010.

In a statement, Atrium said it has been working on plans to increase the affordability of its patients’ co-pays and out-of-pocket expenses for Mednax’s services. Brent Matthews, chair of Atrium’s surgery department, said Atrium has the resources to ensure surgical services will not be interrupted. Care and safety of patients is Atrium’s top priority and at no time during the transition to Scope will patient safety be compromised, Matthews said.

Scope and Mednax did not respond to requests for comment.

The contract termination also appears to mean Southeast’s doctors will no longer be able to work at Atrium facilities. That’s because their employment agreements restrict them from doing so – even if they went to work for Scope or another company, according to memos.

Despite Atrium’s plans to dump Southeast, Josh Miller, an anesthesiologists speaking for Southeast, said contract negotiations are still ongoing. “We remain very hopeful that we’re going to be able to resolve it,” he said.

Atrium’s statement added that Mednax has requested meetings with Atrium. But it’s not clear what the outcome of those might be.

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[ambiturner]

So if I read this correctly: the group had been at the hospital many years, sold out to an AMC, now the hospital is dissatisfied, yet they are claiming to be a pillar of the community implementing a model of care with nothing but patients' best interests at heart?

It's a shame the Charlotte market has turned into this, I have surgeon friends there who have great jobs and love the city. Why did it have to get ruined for us?

 

[Consigliere]

"Atrium said in a memo to its employees that it has developed an improved model for providing anesthesiology services that reduces patient costs while maintaining safe, high-quality care."

Translation: less anesthesiologists, more CRNAs, with 4:1 supervision ratios.

 

[urge]

Doctors’ spat with Atrium Health spills into rare public view

Doctors’ spat with Atrium Health spills into rare public view

BY DEON ROBERTS

[email protected]
March 13, 2018 04:40 PM

Updated 1 hour 22 minutes ago

Atrium Health and a group of about 100 anesthesiologists who work at its Charlotte-area hospitals are preparing to part ways, in a contract spat that’s spilling into public view.

Atrium plans to replace Southeast Anesthesiology Consultants with a new provider, a move that ends a roughly 40-year relationship between the two Charlotte-based companies, according to memos obtained by the Observer. The decision means Southeast’s contract will terminate on June 30, after which Scope Anesthesia of North Carolina will be the new provider, memos show.

[READ MORE: Atrium Health reveals what its top executives were paid in 2017]

Contract-renewal talks between hospital systems and doctors are nothing new. What’s unusual here is the public airing of discussions that are normally kept highly private.

[READ MORE: Questions about control kill merger deal between Atrium Health and UNC Health Care]

As the dispute unfolded, Southeast has taken out full-page ads in the Observer. The ads, such as one this past Sunday, don’t mention contract talks but tout the quality of Southeast’s physicians and that the company has served the community for nearly four decades.

In their memos, both sides accuse each other of misinformation in describing impacts from the contract termination.

Southeast has expressed concerns the change will lead to reduced anesthesiologist staffing at Atrium hospitals and other changes that could impact patient care under the deal with Scope. The termination will affect Southeast doctors who worked at Atrium’s flagship hospital in Dilworth and others, including in Lincolnton, Pineville and Charlotte’s Elizabeth neighborhood, according to Southeast’s memo to local doctors.

In an email last month to Charlotte Mayor Pro Tem Julie Eiselt, one Southeast doctor wrote that Atrium wants to remove the group from its operating rooms, “and we think that this decision puts our community members at risk.” The anesthesiologists “believe that the community should know about this, and that they should be able to weigh in on the decision,” the doctor wrote.

[READ MORE: Renamed Atrium Health plans to combine with another Southern hospital system]

Defending its decision, Atrium said in a memo to its employees that it has developed an improved model for providing anesthesiology services that reduces patient costs while maintaining safe, high-quality care. During talks for a new contract, Southeast’s proposal did not offer to fully implement that model in all Atrium’s facilities, Atrium said.

Southeast is part of Florida-based Mednax, whose subsidiary American Anesthesiology acquired Southeast in 2010.

In a statement, Atrium said it has been working on plans to increase the affordability of its patients’ co-pays and out-of-pocket expenses for Mednax’s services. Brent Matthews, chair of Atrium’s surgery department, said Atrium has the resources to ensure surgical services will not be interrupted. Care and safety of patients is Atrium’s top priority and at no time during the transition to Scope will patient safety be compromised, Matthews said.

Scope and Mednax did not respond to requests for comment.

The contract termination also appears to mean Southeast’s doctors will no longer be able to work at Atrium facilities. That’s because their employment agreements restrict them from doing so – even if they went to work for Scope or another company, according to memos.

Despite Atrium’s plans to dump Southeast, Josh Miller, an anesthesiologists speaking for Southeast, said contract negotiations are still ongoing. “We remain very hopeful that we’re going to be able to resolve it,” he said.

Atrium’s statement added that Mednax has requested meetings with Atrium. But it’s not clear what the outcome of those might be.

The hospital is exercising their right to hire a cheaper anesthesiology group and the Southeast group instead of negotiating properly goes around fearmongering the community about being booted.

Way to go guys!

 

[ambiturner]

Also, anyone want to bet that whatever 'reduces patient costs' will not reduce the amount patients are billed?

 

[urge]

Also, anyone want to bet that whatever 'reduces patient costs' will not reduce the amount patients are billed?

And your point is that the hospital should not make a profit?

What's the point of being in business then?

 

[ambiturner]

There's nothing wrong with pocketing the difference - but it is disingenuous to sell this as a cost savings for the patient when we all know that won't happen.

 

[hypnosMD]

Also, anyone want to bet that whatever 'reduces patient costs' will not reduce the amount patients are billed?

Absolutely! This is all about the hospital getting more money and more control. Wonder if they file as a nonprofit so that all those “savings” can be divvied up amongst the administrators! Anesthesia billing will not go down under the new group and will likely go up.
In unrelated news, it appears there may be a lot of 1099 work soon in NC. I am thinking an 8 hour minimum with double-time for anything over as well as a call fee for any nights carrying the pager (with a 2 hour minimum at the double-time rate when called in). North Carolina, you have always been dear to me

 

[chocomorsel]

So is Scope Anesthesia a Private practice? Or another AMC

 

[pgg]

In unrelated news, it appears there may be a lot of 1099 work soon in NC. I am thinking an 8 hour minimum with double-time for anything over as well as a call fee for any nights carrying the pager (with a 2 hour minimum at the double-time rate when called in). North Carolina, you have always been dear to me

One would think so.
I actually got credentialed there 4 or 5 months ago to do some moonlighting. (I'm active duty military and was looking for some extra work.) When everything blew up there, the need apparently evaporated. Haven't worked a single day for them. Don't really expect to ...

 

[aneftp]

My buddy knows about this cause he knows and has been with mednax a long time (not at the NC location specifically)

Hospital employs the CRNA's. Hospital wants to bill for Anesthesia services. They decided that they want to use southeast docs on a locums basis. The only bullet left for Southeast is to try to restrict access to the docs via non-compete. If Southeast doesn't agree, then they will get 0 money as opposed to some money for giving up their non compete. Very ugly. It will happen elsewhere.

Bad battle. Depends on how financially set these docs are. Most likely. Many have mortgages and bills/private school to pay and need to work.

Hospital knows this. When push comes to shove, hospital is counting on a judge to ignore the non compete "for the good of the community".

If mednax enforces non compete. OR will have to shut down and hospital would lose millions.

This is a game of chicken. And a judge will likely have to decide on the non compete

 

[Southpaw]

My buddy knows about this cause he knows and has been with mednax a long time (not at the NC location specifically)

Hospital employs the CRNA's. Hospital wants to bill for Anesthesia services. They decided that they want to use southeast docs on a locums basis. The only bullet left for Southeast is to try to restrict access to the docs via non-compete. If Southeast doesn't agree, then they will get 0 money as opposed to some money for giving up their non compete. Very ugly. It will happen elsewhere.

Bad battle. Depends on how financially set these docs are. Most likely. Many have mortgages and bills/private school to pay and need to work.

Hospital knows this. When push comes to shove, hospital is counting on a judge to ignore the non compete "for the good of the community".

If mednax enforces non compete. OR will have to shut down and hospital would lose millions.

This is a game of chicken. And a judge will likely have to decide on the non compete

So who is Scope? Sounds like from your description that the hospital would like to employ the anesthesiologists. What will change when/if Scope (or the hospital?) takes over?

 

[gasdoc77]

My buddy knows about this cause he knows and has been with mednax a long time (not at the NC location specifically)

Hospital employs the CRNA's. Hospital wants to bill for Anesthesia services. They decided that they want to use southeast docs on a locums basis. The only bullet left for Southeast is to try to restrict access to the docs via non-compete. If Southeast doesn't agree, then they will get 0 money as opposed to some money for giving up their non compete. Very ugly. It will happen elsewhere.

Bad battle. Depends on how financially set these docs are. Most likely. Many have mortgages and bills/private school to pay and need to work.

Hospital knows this. When push comes to shove, hospital is counting on a judge to ignore the non compete "for the good of the community".

If mednax enforces non compete. OR will have to shut down and hospital would lose millions.

This is a game of chicken. And a judge will likely have to decide on the non compete

Is there any precedent for this kind of a standoff?

 

[aneftp]

Is there any precedent for this kind of a standoff?

Not on this lev

Is there any precedent for this kind of a standoff?[/QUOTE

Not on this level.

Smaller hospitals have had anesthesia providers leave and shut down OR. But not at this kinda of big city level of operating rooms.

Will be interesting how the courts rule on this matter of the non competes.

Is there any precedent for this kind of a standoff?

At smaller hospitals systems where there are 6-10 MDs and 10-20 crnas. Those hospitals can get a complete change of staff.

But I haven’t seen a magnitude of 100 MDs and even more crnas involved like North Carolina.

I couldn’t blame Mednax. They gave the practice millions in 2012? Of course they would be a non compete clause in.

So this case is really the validity of non competes.

 

[Beach bum]

Not on this lev



At smaller hospitals systems where there are 6-10 MDs and 10-20 crnas. Those hospitals can get a complete change of staff.

But I haven’t seen a magnitude of 100 MDs and even more crnas involved like North Carolina.

I couldn’t blame Mednax. They gave the practice millions in 2012? Of course they would be a non compete clause in.

So this case is really the validity of non competes.

Asheville?

 

[Mman]

"Atrium said in a memo to its employees that it has developed an improved model for providing anesthesiology services that reduces patient costs while maintaining safe, high-quality care."

Translation: less anesthesiologists, more CRNAs, with 4:1 supervision ratios.

actually Scope's business model is to bill QZ and have 6:1 and 8:1 ratios. Mednax was already a normal ACT practice. Scope wants to take it further and cut the number of doctors in half.

I hope they crash and burn. Unfortunately patients will get hurt in the process. ACT is a safe and effective model. Going to near total autonomy for CRNAs with a doc around to just put a name on a chart and never be in the room is just stupid.

 

[WholeLottaGame7]

LOL, Scope's website is a hoot. Just look at their motto: "A NEW MODEL FOR PATIENT CARE, BUILT AROUND TEAMWORK AND INDIVIDUALISM."

We're built around one thing, and also the complete opposite thing of the first thing...

 

[aneftp]

Scope anesthesia appears to be a shell company. I can’t find any tax id on the company. The issue is who is really in charge of the company? Is it a side hospital entity? Is it private equity side company. I have no clue.

North Carolina Secretary of State Business Registration Search

 

[Orin]

Scope Anesthesia Of North Carolina, PLLC in Raleigh, NC | Company Info & Reviews

Looks young

 

[BLADEMDA]

Mednax purchased that practice in 2010. They made back all the money they paid out and then some. Most likely, the non competes will be "bought out" by the hospital/scope as Mednax is no longer in the running there.

 

[Mman]

Scope anesthesia appears to be a shell company. I can’t find any tax id on the company. The issue is who is really in charge of the company? Is it a side hospital entity? Is it private equity side company. I have no clue.

North Carolina Secretary of State Business Registration Search

I believe it's just 1 doc and 1 business person based in another state that registered a new company in NC and want to farm out all the labor.

 

[Man o War]

Here’s the gas work listing for cardiac. According to this Scope Anesthesia doesn’t have an exclusive contract. Sounds really sketchy.



GasWork.com - Reference #236451

 

[Southpaw]

I don’t understand this. Why doesn’t the hospital just elicit a RFP and/or sign Mednax to a short term deal w the understanding they may be replaced? The current shenanigans and website reading relating to ScopeNC make it seem shady. If the hospital wants control/profit from anesthesia services then they just need to employ the docs/nurses and run the dept as they see fit. If they aren’t happy w Mednax then just put out a RFP and see how it shakes out.

 

[aneftp]

I believe it's just 1 doc and 1 business person based in another state that registered a new company in NC and want to farm out all the labor.

Come on. Do u really believe that? This has the makings of a shell company controlled and owned by a larger entity. Especially trying to Administer anesthesia to a practice that large of a size.

Just our old 2 hospital system with 18 different locations to cover. The start up costs were a mini

I believe it's just 1 doc and 1 business person based in another state that registered a new company in NC and want to farm out all the labor.

It’s a shell company.

U cannot run a anesthesia business with that many MDs with just one person.

There is some real entity behind the shell company.

A small hospital anesthesia startup with 4-5 MDs and 10-12 crna requires either hospital subsidy/loans of 1 million to front load the cash cause billing collections are 3-4 months behind.

Imagine 100 MDs. That’s why too much startup costs

 

[kmurp]

Looking at the Southeast Anesthesia website on the physicians page, I’m struck with how young everyone looks. I mean almost every single doc. Was there a massive turnover after the buyout?

 

[Mman]

Come on. Do u really believe that? This has the makings of a shell company controlled and owned by a larger entity. Especially trying to Administer anesthesia to a practice that large of a size.

I have 2nd hand information that is the case from someone at that hospital system. The docs and CRNAs will actually be employed by the hospital but managed by this company. Upfront costs all go to the hospital, not the guy and his shell company.

 

[DeadSpace]

actually Scope's business model is to bill QZ and have 6:1 and 8:1 ratios. Mednax was already a normal ACT practice. Scope wants to take it further and cut the number of doctors in half.

I hope they crash and burn. Unfortunately patients will get hurt in the process. ACT is a safe and effective model. Going to near total autonomy for CRNAs with a doc around to just put a name on a chart and never be in the room is just stupid.

Exactly, those ratios don't even matter if they are doing QZ billing, it's just a collaborative practice. That's all we need is a big practice change on this level to publicly happen so all the other hospital's money hungry admin can salivate over the potential.

Next month it'll be a different ACT model reinventing themselves with this great new "innovative practice" which happens to require fewer anesthesiologists salaries to cover.

 

[Man o War]

I’ve seen no mention of high ratios or collaborative model in any of the coverage of this. The hospital denies the allegation that there will be a big decrease in docs, and the gas work listing says ratios of 1:1-1:3, at least for cardiac. The “innovative model” is PSH according to what I’ve read.

 

[Mman]

I’ve seen no mention of high ratios or collaborative model in any of the coverage of this. The hospital denies the allegation that there will be a big decrease in docs, and the gas work listing says ratios of 1:1-1:3, at least for cardiac. The “innovative model” is PSH according to what I’ve read.

Of course they aren't going to brag about it.

 

[Man o War]

Of course they aren't going to brag about it.

Why are we assuming this is a collab model? contracts change hands all the time from ACT to ACT and ACT to all doc from what I’ve seen.

 

[Mman]

Why are we assuming this is a collab model? contracts change hands all the time from ACT to ACT and ACT to all doc from what I’ve seen.

It isn't collaboration, it's QZ billing with > 4:1 ratios.

 

[narcotics999]

How can scope anesthesia recruit 100 MDs or 50 MDs after reduction overnight?

 

[Mman]

How can scope anesthesia recruit 100 MDs or 50 MDs after reduction overnight?

1) depends on if hospital can get non-competes ruled against in court
2) that's why they are recruiting hard now before the change over
3) line up as many locums as you can ahead of time

 

[narcusprince]

This is greed at its finest. Greasy group sold out to mednax likely got a few million dollar buyout. Contract was up with current hospital and they got underbid. Now old group is pissed because mednax paid out millions and the non compete should be enforced. I bet their is language that if the non compete is dissolved the partners are on the hook for the buy outs.

 

[deleted126335]

At what point does “acceptable good capitalism” end and “greed” begin?

 

[AdmiralChz]

It isn't collaboration, it's QZ billing with > 4:1 ratios.

I have no direct insight myself, but the second and third-hand info I have insist this isn’t the case. It’s more that the hospital is over having MEDNAX as a provider as they feel like they often price gouge patients and won’t increase MD staffing to cover needs out of the OR.

Only place I’ve heard 1:6 or 1:8 staffing is here. Wonder if it’s spin from MEDNAX? Again, I don’t live in Charlotte so don’t have direct knowledge.

My current fellowship institution has an AMC covering the main ORs 1:4, and the surgeons all hate the setup and readily admit being nervous with sick patients due to lack of MD oversight. They readily try to schedule super sickies over in the CV ORs because of this. The hospital admin is getting some serious heat from them as well which might open up the contract, I wonder if a similar situation happened here?

 

[skypilot]

This is greed at its finest. Greasy group sold out to mednax likely got a few million dollar buyout. Contract was up with current hospital and they got underbid. Now old group is pissed because mednax paid out millions and the non compete should be enforced. I bet their is language that if the non compete is dissolved the partners are on the hook for the buy outs.

It is about time that these non-competes are challenged and broken. It is ridiculous that herds of dedicated physicians are being bought and sold as Chattel by huge corporations based on the value of a non-compete agreement. It is demeaning to the profession. It is being propagated by payments to individual doctors and it will cause enormous stress in the lives of these 100 physicians and many others.

 

[Man o War]

It is about time that these non-competes are challenged and broken. It is ridiculous that herds of dedicated physicians are being bought and sold as Chattel by huge corporations based on the value of a non-compete agreement. It is demeaning to the profession. It is being propagated by payments to individual doctors and it will cause enormous stress in the lives of these 100 physicians and many others.

I agree *unless* the individual docs took millions in buyout and that was a condition of their sell out.
If so, they made a deal with the devil and that’s what you get.

 

[BLADEMDA]

I agree *unless* the individual docs took millions in buyout and that was a condition of their sell out.
If so, they made a deal with the devil and that’s what you get.

This thread is off base.

1. Hospital and MDs are not happy with Mednax

2. It's not QZ billing that this is about

3. The deal is over as it has been 7 plus years. Nobody is on the hook for anything. The old guys have mostly retired.

 

[kmurp]

This thread is off base.

1. Hospital and MDs are not happy with Mednax

2. It's not QZ billing that this is about

3. The deal is over as it has been 7 plus years. Nobody is on the hook for anything. The old guys have mostly retired.

That’s consistent with the pictures on their website where it looks like almost everyone in under 40.

 

[narcusprince]

This thread is off base.

1. Hospital and MDs are not happy with Mednax

2. It's not QZ billing that this is about

3. The deal is over as it has been 7 plus years. Nobody is on the hook for anything. The old guys have mostly retired.

If the non compete clause with mednax is still valid the the deal is still valid. Hospital not happy with mednax, mednax gets some token guys to speak up. Mednax loses contract secondary to underbid and hospital pr.

 

[Robotic Wis-Hipple]

If Mednax loses their contract, how can the non-compete be applied to the Docs as the deal is no longer in place?

 

[skypilot]

This thread is off base.

1. Hospital and MDs are not happy with Mednax

2. It's not QZ billing that this is about

3. The deal is over as it has been 7 plus years. Nobody is on the hook for anything. The old guys have mostly retired.

The hospital is unhappy with the management of the Anesthesia group. Therefore they have every right to fire the management of the group (ie Mednax)
However The Physician's are not Engineers with trade and business secrets that Mednax has somehow conferred on them. They are employee professionals practicing a highly regulated profession which they have individually spent each over a decade investing in developing. Mednax has given no special knowledge that should make a non-compete enforceable. The only purpose of the non-compete is to confer "ownership" of these talented professionals to Mednax. Therefore the non-compete should be null and void and the hospital should be able to hire any of the Anesthesiologists as it so desires.

That would be the argument I would make to the judge The whole premise of these wholesale non-compete agreements when it comes to the enormous management companies who have turned physicians into serfs is abhorrent.

 

[caligas]

The hospital is unhappy with the management of the Anesthesia group. Therefore they have every right to fire the management of the group (ie Mednax)
However The Physician's are not Engineers with trade and business secrets that Mednax has somehow conferred on them. They are employee professionals practicing a highly regulated profession which they have individually spent each over a decade investing in developing. Mednax has given no special knowledge that should make a non-compete enforceable. The only purpose of the non-compete is to confer "ownership" of these talented professionals to Mednax. Therefore the non-compete should be null and void and the hospital should be able to hire any of the Anesthesiologists as it so desires.

That would be the argument I would make to the judge The whole premise of these wholesale non-compete agreements when it comes to the enormous management companies who have turned physicians into serfs is abhorrent.

The problem is when you are an unemployed doctor thinking about taking a job and being threatened with a multimillion dollar lawsuit that you will have to defend out of your own pocket.

 

[Howard888]

You all are focusing on the first half of the problem for these docs.

For arguments sake let’s say a judge rules their non competes unenforceable, do they even want to work for Atrium/Scope?

Will they be forced to do supervision? What are the pay/hours/benefits like?

If it’s truly a supervision model which is not routinely practiced in NC or in hospitals with the type acuity Atrium has, I encourage these physicians to not sign with Atrium/Scope and reform their own private group.

No possible way Scope could get 50, let alone 100 locums to staff the hospitals. Atrium has competitors in town and surgeons operate at multiple facilities. 50 new faces would not encourage them to pick Atrium.

Let a judge rule the non compete unenforceable. Do not sign with Scope. Reform a group and negotiate hard. Do not do supervision if you do not want to.

Easy for me to say, problem is you know there will be a few who will be too scared to jeapordize their life in CLT to negotiate.

Unfortunate as this stand off could have ramifications for Anesthesia regionally and nationally.

 

[dA pilot]

If Mednax loses their contract, how can the non-compete be applied to the Docs as the deal is no longer in place?

Mednax may have lost their contract with the hospital but they still have an employment agreement with the physician. The employment agreement would stipulate the non-compete.

The question is, how long can mednax pay the physicians with no work to do. They can not just deploy the physicians to another state. They will have to release some physicians from their agreements.

 

[skypilot]

You all are focusing on the first half of the problem for these docs.

For arguments sake let’s say a judge rules their non competes unenforceable, do they even want to work for Atrium/Scope?

Will they be forced to do supervision? What are the pay/hours/benefits like?

If it’s truly a supervision model which is not routinely practiced in NC or in hospitals with the type acuity Atrium has, I encourage these physicians to not sign with Atrium/Scope and reform their own private group.

No possible way Scope could get 50, let alone 100 locums to staff the hospitals. Atrium has competitors in town and surgeons operate at multiple facilities. 50 new faces would not encourage them to pick Atrium.

Let a judge rule the non compete unenforceable. Do not sign with Scope. Reform a group and negotiate hard. Do not do supervision if you do not want to.

Easy for me to say, problem is you know there will be a few who will be too scared to jeapordize their life in CLT to negotiate.

Unfortunate as this stand off could have ramifications for Anesthesia regionally and nationally.

Yes, you can take a stand for yourself at some point in your career. Usually when your debts are paid off and you've got money in the bank. A few docs around here formed their own little group and just work per-diem and locums for the hospitals in the area on their own terms. Take it or leave it. But you gotta have some cash in the bank.

 

[10MinuteTurnover]

It doesn't matter if the non-compete is enforceable or not.

This is a game of chicken.

Scope/Atrium will NOT find the manpower they need unless Southeast group docs chicken out first and agree to work for Scope. I understand it's a difficult position to be in but it is so important to realize that if the Southeast group sticks together and holds their ground, Atrium will have to shut it's ORs down and Southeast will win out.

 

[FollowTheMoney]

Frankly, I’m more in shock that the people on this board are in disbelief that this is happening. The writing has been on the wall for years that this was going to happen. Hospitals and AMCs will continue to exploit and maximize profits at the expense of YOUR license, but if you are willing to sign the contract then you have no one to blame but yourself. They will increase ratios until they have a serious lawsuit on their hands, so if that never happens then anesthesiologists will continue to be phased out. The job market will suffer and incomes will fall. Ultimately, the long term outlook for us is not good.

 

[BLADEMDA]

It doesn't matter if the non-compete is enforceable or not.

This is a game of chicken.

Scope/Atrium will NOT find the manpower they need unless Southeast group docs chicken out first and agree to work for Scope. I understand it's a difficult position to be in but it is so important to realize that if the Southeast group sticks together and holds their ground, Atrium will have to shut it's ORs down and Southeast will win out.

How do you know the Anesthesiologists don't actually prefer Scope over Mednax? I know I'd prefer to be a hospital employee over an AMC employee. Also, Southeast Anesthesiology is a shell company for Mednax. I'd either start my own group if released from the non compete or work for the hospital. Mednax and Sheridan would be dead last on my list.