Rhode Island and Connecticut have enacted laws restricting the use of non-competition provisions in physicians' contracts, according to the National Law Review.
The aim of both laws is to protect patients' choices regarding medical care by preventing employers or partners from restricting a physician's ability to practice medicine at the end of a professional relationship, according to the report.
Rhode Island's law, which went into effect July 1, prohibits any kind of non-compete language in most physician agreements. No contract can "restrict [a physician's] right to practice medicine," according to the report.
The law does not apply to the purchase and sale of physician practices.
Connecticut's law, which also went into effect July 1, limits the duration of a physician's non-compete clause to one year and limits the geographical location to which the non-compete is effective to up to 15 miles from the primary site where the physician practices. The new law also renders the non-compete clause unenforceable if the physician's employment is terminated without cause, according to the report.