More doctors joining unions. (Short Takes: News at Deadline).

Increasingly it appears that physicians' lab coats will bear the union label, At least that is the prediction of AFL-CIO officials in the wake of a decision by the New York Doctors Council--one of the nation's largest local physicians' unions--to link arms with the 1.3 million-member Service Employees International Union, which is affiliated with the AFL-CIO.

The 2,500 member New York Doctors Council has also joined with the Committee of Interns and Residents of United Salaried Physicians and Dentists to form the National Doctors Alliance. The new entity will have 15000 members. Union officials plan on stepping up their efforts to organize physicians. A $1 million campaign will focus on promoting patients' rights.

In announcing the effort Barry Liebowitz, MD, President of the New York Doctors Council said, "We can no longer practice medicine the way we are supposed to, and patients are suffering. We need a countervailing force to stand up to the insurance administrators who deny patients needed care." The union plans to push for legislation that will hold managed care companies liable if they overrule a physician's proposed course of treatment. It will also seek to ban gag clauses in HMO contracts.

It is estimated that between 38,000 and 45,000 doctors in the United States belong to unions. That's approximately 6 percent of the nation's 600,000 physicians and is up from about 25,000 two years ago. This growth is expected to continue as more physicians take salaried posts.

Speaking on behalf of the American Association of Health Plans, Donald White said," Unions are just one of the many mechanisms employees can use to connect with their managers. Most HMOs are already used to dealing with groups of doctors, whether they are in a union or some other kind of group." In many other countries, the majority of physicians already belong to a union or other professional organization that addresses working conditions and the quality of patient care. The biggest question mark on the horizon for physician unions is whether they may at some point jeopardize patient care by going on strike. Liebowitz says that his union would only consider striking as a last resort after all other options are exhausted.

-- James A. Hawkins is Publisher of Healthcare Briefings, a newsletter available in print, on cassette, via fax, and on computer disk. He can be reached at 800/338-5486.