Physician leaders warn that CMS’ 2027 Medicare physician fee schedule final rule will put more strain on independent practices and make it harder for patients to get care. The final rule, released Nov. 4, cuts the conversion factor 2.31% to…
Physician Workforce
The day after we buried my mother, I turned 7 and my father insisted that I blow out a birthday candle, because he understood that someone had to define the new normal. I have been defining new normals ever since:…
Here are nine updates on unionization efforts and other labor organizing among clinicians at hospitals and health systems in October, as reported by Becker’s: 1. Registered nurses at Providence St. Joseph Hospital Eureka (Calif.) and Providence Redwood Memorial Hospital in…
Over time, a quiet shift has changed the way physicians experience their daily work. Most of us entered medicine with a sense that it was a profession rooted in responsibility, trust and moral seriousness. Yet the culture around us increasingly…
For most of 2026, hospital and health system layoffs have stayed away from the bedside. Systems have trimmed leadership layers, outsourced IT and consolidated administrative functions, often stating outright that front-line care teams would not be affected. But physicians have…
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Eighteen states now ban or effectively void physician noncompetes, and three of them acted in 2026: Maine, Utah and Virginia. Washington will join them June 30, 2027, when it voids all noncompetes. Another 10 states and Washington, D.C., significantly restrict…
New Brunswick, N.J.-based St. Peter’s Healthcare System’s Oct. 14 lawsuit against West Orange, N.J.-based RWJBarnabas Health and former board member Maureen Cernadas, MD, is about one OB-GYN group in central New Jersey. It also shows how health systems compete for…
New York’s highest court unanimously ruled that Buffalo-based Kaleida Health’s self-insurance plan covered a physician treating patients on call. The ruling puts the health system on the hook for most of a malpractice settlement above the physician’s primary policy. The…
Physician associates are heading into 2027 state legislative sessions with supervision rollbacks at the top of their agenda. Physician groups are preparing to fight them. Ten states have removed the requirement that PAs practice under physician supervision, according to MedPage…
Seventy-seven percent of medical students and 74% of residents reported carrying debt from medical school, compared with 30% of practicing physicians, according to Medscape’s “Medical School Debt-Management Report 2026.” The report, published Oct. 16, is based on an online survey…