American Medical Association issues manual to help physicians understand their rights as employees

The American Medical Association has developed a manual, The Annotated Model Physician-Hospital Employment Agreement, to help physicians navigate employment agreements with hospitals, according to American Medical News. The manual is available at www.ama-assn.org/go/employmentagreement. Sixty-five percent of established physicians and 49% of those finishing residencies have jobs in hospital-based practices, according to 2009 data from the Medical Group Management Association. As physician-hospital arrangements become more prevalent, physicians must understand their rights, particularly given that these arrangements are often complicated (e.g., some physicians have multiple contracts for different jobs at the same hospital).