Are Noncompetes Enforceable for Doctors?
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
We’ve written about how to negotiate noncompete clauses during contract negotiations, but what about if you have a noncompete agreement already in place in your physician contract? This is a question often asked in our online communities. There was a lot of buzz in 2024 when the FTC made moves to ban noncompetes, but it’s important to know that this never made it across the finish line. Therefore, the answer to whether or not your noncompete is enforceable remains nuanced. Below, we’ll cover when noncompetes may be illegal, not enforceable, or likely to be decreased in scope or even thrown out if challenged.
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Are noncompete or restrictive covenant agreements enforceable for doctors?
The long and short of this is that it depends. There are several factors that will determine whether your noncompete is deemed valid and enforceable, including:
The laws or precedent in your state
What exactly your contract says
How extensive the noncompete is in terms of distance and years
Whether or not you practice in an area of a physician shortage like a rural area, where access to care may be an issue
How big your practice is
What specialty you are
State laws vary in regards to noncompetes
Although the federal ban on noncompetes never went into effect, in recent years, many states have moved to ban or at least restrict noncompete agreements. Some of these states have rules against noncompetes specifically for physicians.
Of note, this landscape is changing regularly, so please check and see what the current rules are in your state before making any decisions based on these lists.
States where noncompetes are generally banned for all doctors include:
Arkansas (Effective 7/15/25)
California
Colorado (Effective 8/6/25, not retroactive, with caveats for certain business transactions)
Massachusetts
Minnesota
Montana (Effective 1/1/26)
North Dakota
New Hampshire
Oklahoma
Rhode Island
Wyoming (Effective 7/1/25)
Always check for laws specific to your particular situation by discussing with a healthcare attorney in your state. There may be nuances related to things like sale of a practice, income level, whether you can still claw back signing and relocation bonuses, etc.
States where noncompetes are limited for doctors
There are several states where there are specific provisions related to physician noncompetes. For example:
Connecticut: Limits noncompetes to 1 year and 15 miles; also has different restrictions if the employer employs more than 35 physicians
Florida: Generally permits noncompetes, but does ban them if all physicians in their specialty within a single county are employed by one organization
Illinois: Limits noncompetes for mental health professionals
Indiana: No noncompetes for physicians employed by a hospital or its affiliates after 7/1/25; additionally noncompetes are not allowed at all for primary care physicians who practice family medicine, general pediatric medicine and internal medicine, and not allowed for physicians if terminated without cause or because the contract expired, or if physician terminates with cause against employer
Louisiana: Moving towards outright bans for noncompetes for physicians, with different timeframes for primary care physicians (3 years) and non-primary care physicians (5 years), with time and geographic restrictions for those that remain enforceable.
Maryland: Noncompetes not allowed for physicians in direct patient care and making under $350,000 annually. For those making more than $350,000, limited noncompetes to one year in duration and ten miles in scope (Effective 7/1/2025, not retroactive)
Oregon: Generally limits noncompetes for physicians, with some exceptions such as practice owners, where they are not providing clinical care, or those where a ‘significant’ investment into recruitment has been made.
Pennsylvania: For agreements after 1/1/25, noncompetes are not enforceable unless the physician leaves on their own accord (and if so, must be limited to 1 year) or if tied to the sale or transfer of a business if the physician is a party in the transaction.
Tennessee: not enforceable for emergency medicine physicians
Texas: Limited to 5 miles and 1 year, also limits buyout provisions to 1 year of the physician’s annual compensation, and declares noncompetes void if physician terminated without cause. Went into effect 9/1/25, and applies to non-compete agreements entered or renewed on or after its effective date
Utah: prohibits “health care services platforms” from making physicians enter noncompetes that prevent them from finding or accepting shifts on other platforms
West Virginia: Limited to 1 year and 30 miles
Again, please check the nuances of these with a licensed healthcare attorney in the state as these are beyond the general scope of this article.
There is pending legislation to limit or ban noncompetes in many additional states, such as New York and Ohio.
What is the likelihood that your employer will enforce the noncompete clause if there is not a law in the state against them?
If you are leaving your place of employment on amicable terms, the first thing to do may be to check with the employer whether they intend to enforce the noncompete. There are several circumstances in which they may be willing to waive the noncompete, including:
They don’t see your new place or method of practice as a threat to their business
They wouldn’t want to get in a legal battle over it
They know their noncompete would likely not hold up if challenged
It’s always a good idea to talk to your own healthcare attorney first for strategy on how to approach this discussion.
Things that determine whether your noncompete will be enforced by a judge or is likely to be negotiable
If your noncompete is not deemed illegal by the laws of your state, whether or not your employer is likely to enforce the noncompete becomes more nuanced, as does what will happen if the noncompete is challenged in court.
While the first rule is always to check what the contract says, if you did sign a noncompete agreement, that doesn’t mean there’s no chance you can get out of it. The fact is that statistically, there’s often room for negotiation of these noncompete clauses as both parties would generally like to avoid the risks and expenses associated with litigation. Many noncompetes are either narrowed or struck down during the negotiation process or when challenged in court.
Things that both parties will want to consider when thinking about a settlement, or that a judge will consider if the argument goes to court are listed below.
What are the circumstances under which the contract was terminated?
In many cases where the employed physician is let go without cause, a noncompete is waived by contract. Even if it’s not specified in the contract, many states have laws regarding this situation (that may have even been enacted since the contract was signed).
Additionally, in cases where the employee is looking to leave because of cause against the employer, an often negotiated settlement is the waiving of the noncompete clause.
Many will also consider if the appropriate procedures were given for advance notice.
When a relationship is terminated contentiously, particularly if the departing physician is perceived as a threat to the employer, the employer is likely much more prone to pursue litigation and enforcement of the noncompete clause if they think they can win it.
Are the terms of the noncompete reasonable?
While anybody can put anything into a contract, it’s important to note that if challenged in court, many judges will either cut down the scope of the noncompete in terms of distance or time it’s effective, or may throw out the noncompete altogether. Generally speaking, a smaller radius (such as less than 10 miles) and smaller amount of time (such as 1 year) have a better chance of holding up in court than something massive such as entire states or any place where the employer has a footprint.
Is there an access to care issue in the geographic area for this particular specialty?
A common reason that judges are now throwing out noncompete clauses are to preserve access to care for patients in the geographic regions of concern. As rural access to care becomes increasingly challenging for specialists and primary care providers alike, a judge may choose to prioritize the needs of the community over the needs of a business.
What has the precedent been in your area or with your employer for if noncompetes are enforced or upheld?
Your healthcare attorney should help you look at the local legal precedent for what has happened in situations similar to yours, as well as how aggressive (and successful) your employer has been in the past with similar situations. This will help you determine the likely outcome.
Should I contest my noncompete agreement legally?
Ultimately, you should understand that this will likely be an expensive and time consuming process for both parties. Most arguments about noncompete agreements come to a settlement between the lawyers, rather than go to court, for this reason. When deciding whether you should go down this pathway, you and your lawyer will likely consider:
How important it is to you that you practice within the restricted region
How strong or weak the noncompete agreement is, and whether it’s likely to hold up in a court of law on the basis of its scope
How aggressive your employer has been in the past about enforcement of noncompetes
What local case law has been in terms of precedent of upholding or striking down noncompetes
The circumstances under which you’re departing and whether you have leverage (if the employer did something wrong and you’re leaving with cause against the employer, you’re more likely to have this leverage)
What limitations you’d like to push for if you think it’s unlikely to be thrown out (shorter duration, more narrow geographic restriction, etc.)
Conclusion
Ultimately, it’s always best to negotiate the best noncompete situation for yourself at the time of contract negotiations, rather than have to fight the noncompete on your way out. However, if you have signed a noncompete agreement, all hope is not lost. Many times, these are modified during the exit negotiations if challenged, so make sure you consult an experienced healthcare attorney in your area to help you navigate this situation.
Related resources for physicians
Learn more about noncompetes & physician contracts:
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