HSB654: Location-Based Health Care Practice Restrictions

Prohibits employers from enforcing contractual clauses that restrict health care providers from practicing at rural hospitals or facilities, or at hospitals designated as critical access hospitals, after leaving employment. The bill applies to all such agreements regardless of when they were made. However, it does not affect provisions that limit a provider's ability to solicit former or current patients.

Key Points & Impacts:

• Declares void and unenforceable any contract provision that limits a health care provider's right to practice at rural or critical access hospitals after employment ends.

• Applies to agreements made before, on, or after the bill's effective date.

• Covers a wide range of licensed health care professionals, including physicians, nurses, dentists, and others authorized to provide health care in Iowa.

• Does not invalidate contract provisions restricting the solicitation of current or former patients by health care providers.

• Specifically protects provider mobility in rural areas or federally designated critical access hospitals as defined by federal regulation.

• Seeks to increase access to health care in rural areas by removing non-compete style restrictions for providers.

• Does not retroactively affect provisions unrelated to practice location, such as trade secrets or patient solicitation clauses.

• May affect employer strategies for recruitment and retention of health care providers in rural settings.