What you should know about restrictive covenants in health care

In recent years, many states have shown a greater inclination to enforce restrictive covenant provisions in contracts involving healthcare organizations and their employees, physicians, or other contacting parties. In general, an enforceable restrictive covenant is one that is deemed to have been reasonably drafted to do no more than to protect the company's legitimate business interest. Key areas of concern in health care that often fall under the protection of restrictive covenants include patient referral sources and relationships with patients.