We are blogging on “Non-competes, Trade Secrets, Fiduciary Duties, and the Inevitable Disclosure Doctrine.” Mark Oberti has prepared a detailed paper on all of these issues, which can be found here.
Special rules apply to noncompetition agreements concerning physicians. Specifically, sections 15.50(b) and (c) of the Texas Business and Commerce Code provide as follows:
(b) A covenant not to compete relating to the practice of medicine is enforceable against a person licensed as a physician by the Texas Medical Board if such covenant complies with the following requirements:
(1) the covenant must:
(A) not deny the physician access to a list of his patients whom he had seen or treated within one year of termination of the contract or employment;
(B) provide access to medical records of the physician’s patients upon authorization of the patient and any copies of medical records for a reasonable fee as established by the Texas Medical Board under Section 159.008, Occupations Code; and
(C) provide that any access to a list of patients or to patients’ medical records after termination of the contract or employment shall not require such list or records to be provided in a format different than that by which such records are maintained except by mutual consent of the parties to the contract;
(2) the covenant must provide for a buy out of the covenant by the physician at a reasonable price or, at the option of either party, as determined by a mutually agreed upon arbitrator or, in the case of an inability to agree, an arbitrator of the court whose decision shall be binding on the parties; and
(3) the covenant must provide that the physician will not be prohibited from providing continuing care and treatment to a specific patient or patients during the course of an acute illness even after the contract or employment has been terminated.
(c) Subsection (b) does not apply to a physician’s business ownership interest in a licensed hospital or licensed ambulatory surgical center.
In Greenville Surgery Center, Ltd. v. Beebe, 320 S.W.3d 850, 853 (Tex. App.–Dallas 2010, no pet.), the Dallas Court of Appeals applied this section to invalidate a non-compete that did not comply with it, stating:
Section 15.50(b) outlines the situations in which a covenant not to compete is enforceable against a person licensed as a physician by the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners. Here, the record demonstrates the Doctors are licensed physicians. Section 15.50(b)(2) requires the covenant to include a buy-out provision if the covenant is to be enforceable against a physician. TEX. BUS. & COM. CODE ANN. § 15.50(b)(2). This buy-out clause requirement provides physicians with the unique opportunity to buy out their covenants that is not available to any other employee subject to a covenant. See Mike Kreager, The Physician’s Right in § 15.50(b) to Buy Out a Covenant Not to Compete in Texas, 61 Baylor L.Rev. 357, 419 (Spring 2009). The covenant before us, however, contains no buy-out clause as required by section 15.50(b)(2). Therefore, the covenant is unenforceable against the Doctors. See Gulf Coast Cardiology Group, P.A., v. Samman, No. 09-02-009-CV, 2002 WL 1877175 (Tex. App.–Beaumont Aug. 15, 2002, pet. denied) (covenant not to compete unenforceable since it did not contain a buy-out provision).
