The PMD Critical List: A $50,000 Penalty to Open a Practice

Non-compete clauses can make going solo a very costly procedure for physicians. The top story on this week’s PMD Critical List illustrates the impact of the trend. Also on the list: A look at why doctors quit, and the body parts people can legally sell.

• Inside Non-Competes for Doctors (Puget Sound Business Journal)

Here’s an interesting window on the state of today’s medical business in the Pacific Northwest. One doctor had to cough-up $50,000 just to keep working. “Can you imagine not working for two years?" the doctor asks.

• Why Doctors Quit (The Washington Post)

It’s understood—doctors are smart people. And one of the smarter ones is Charles Krauthammer, MD. The Harvard-trained physiatrist and Pulitzer-prize winning columnist offers his thoughts on the state of the medical profession. Powerful words.

• PA/NP Top 5 Procedures (Clinical Advisor)

They’re established healers within a growing medical profession—physician assistants and nurse practitioners. And knowing what they do most and best (breathing and babies top the list) helps with better training and execution.

• Are Tattoos a Health Risk? (Bioscience Technology)

Seems everywhere you look today there’s a person with a tattoo. Here’s a New York University Langone Medical Center survey—“the first of its kind”—that reports an alarmingly “high rate of reported chronic complications tied to getting a tattoo.” Physicians beware.

• Paris Doctors Go On Strike (RFI English)

Some American physicians might think that just being able to practice medicine in beautiful Paris would be enough. French health officials say they want a “reorganization of working hours.” French doctors see more work for less pay.

• 10 Body Parts You Can Legally Sell (TheRichest.com)

“Elbows for $850, heads for $500” … on the black market, human body parts are a brisk business. The top illegal piece of anatomy sold is the kidney, reaching $200,000 per. However, some things can be lawfully sold and the person lives to tell about it.

• Former Congressman Alleges Medical Malpractice (The Washington Post)

A long-serving Ohio congressman believes that government doctors knew he had a deadly cancer disease and then just forgot to tell him. A “grim prognosis” for a member of a group that usually gets the “royal treatment.”

• Big Price Hikes for Obamacare (Politico)

Most doctors, while no big supporters of Obamacare, would like to have a better health system, even with the understanding that government must be involved. Sadly, the planning and execution of the Affordable Care Act proves it to be anything but affordable.

• Nursing Home Care: A Solid Business (Seekingalpha.com)

Although physicians must first address regulatory issues on this matter, the investment in home care nursing is quite promising. Demographics and good management are bringing “staggering profits.” An opportunity worth some review?