Doctors and unions: is collective bargaining the cure for physicians' labor pains?

Abstract

Increasing governmental regulation, the proliferation of alternative health-care options, and a glut of physicians in some areas have substantially affected the way physicians practice medicine today. Health-care consumers are not the only people affected. Where physicians were once their own bosses, many now find themselves as employers of health-care providers. In this new role, physicians are now considering union representation as a vehicle to assert their interests and concerns. This article examines why some doctors favor unionization, why some oppose it, and the legal implications of unionized physicians.