The Medical School and Health Services Foundation will add non-compete agreements to clinical faculty contracts beginning July 1. Previously, the agreements were left to department chairs' discretion.
NCAs, which will not affect research faculty, will not permit a physician leaving the Medical Center to practice medicine for one year either within 15 or 50 miles of the University, depending on whether he is a primary or specialty care physician.
"This decision is the result of careful deliberation over the past year combined with a significant amount of research on our part," Medical Center spokesperson Peter Jump said.
In the past, Jump said, some physicians ceased practice at the University, and not only took their former patients with them but also used their background at the University as marketing to reach out to more individuals.
"This loss of faculty has decreased the services we can offer the community and has a negative impact on our ability to conduct medical research and education for our students," he said.
Prior to establishing these agreements, the University surveyed 28 other academic medical centers and found that all but two had similar NCAs in place. Of the two that were not confirmed as having NCAs, one did not respond and the other was prohibited from responding by state law, Jump said.
Though some might argue that NCAs have the potential to stifle medical choices for patients, Jump noted that there are several local physicians independent from any institutions or affiliations in the Central Virginia area, "so there is plenty of choice for consumers when deciding which doctor is best for them."
Law School Prof. J.H. Verkerke said courts will uphold an NCA after taking its temporal length and geographic scope into consideration.
"In general, courts are willing to enforce non-competes only if they meet certain criteria for what constitutes a reasonable restraint of trade," he said.
Jump emphasized that the University takes potential legal complications very seriously when adding NCAs to contracts and enforcing them.
"We have also undertaken considerable research and legal evaluation to ensure that our NCAs are in keeping with Virginia law and University policy," he said.
Law School Prof. Edwin Cohen added that an agreement such as a NCA is lawful so long as the employer has a legitimate interest.
"U.Va does not want the doctors to come and then leave taking all their patients," he said. "This has been recognized by the courts"
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