Union activity has always been prevalent in healthcare. After going through a pandemic and amid today's industry challenges, however, physicians have particularly been involved in these efforts.
With this in mind, Becker's assembled a primer on healthcare unions and trends in physician unionization.
Here are six things to know about physicians and unions:
1. Physicians are increasingly choosing employment over private practice, driving traction for unionization, according to the American Medical Association. In 1998, the AMA estimated that between 14,000 and 20,000 physicians belonged to unions. That number appeared to grow to 46,689 in 2014 and reach 67,673 in 2019.
2. Affiliates of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees and the Service Employees International Union have been part of organizing efforts by physicians. The American Association of University Professors has also been part of these efforts.
3. A group of more than 400 primary care physicians affiliated with Minneapolis-based Allina Health appears to be the largest group of unionized physicians in the private sector in the U.S., according to The New York Times. Around 400 physicians and 150 nurse practitioners and physician assistants working at Allina clinics voted earlier this month to unionize and will be represented by the Doctors Council, an affiliate of SEIU.
4. Physicians in training have also been involved in organizing efforts. For example, medical residents and fellows at Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham voted in June to join the Committee of Interns and Residents, a local chapter of SEIU.
5. An AMA issue brief that explores collective bargaining for physicians and physicians in training cites burnout as a major driver of physician unionization. "Physicians vigorously complain that they spend more time than ever on EHR documentation and bureaucratic administrivia," the brief stated, adding that under these conditions, unionization may appear to some physicians as a plausible opportunity to improve their working conditions.
6. Among physicians who do unionize, there is risk of impasse and of striking. However, "the history of physician unions shows very few physician strikes," according to the AMA issue brief. Unions must provide hospitals with a 10-day notice of a strike before it would occur.