Physician organizing: a convergence of interests

Economic forces and professional ideals are colliding to create further unrest in the health care industry in the form of organizing physicians into unions. Whereas self-employed or independent contractor physicians are barred from joining together to bargain collectively with third-party payers and HMOs, employed physicians may be able to avoid antitrust problems because they are eligible for protection under the National Labor Relations Act. Consequently, as the number of employed physicians has grown and the frustrations they encounter increase, unions (generally suffering a decrease in membership and political influence) are finding a receptive audience for their message of solidarity. However, will organizing into unions solve or aggravate the physicians' problems?