Updated November 2, 2024
With fall upon us, we want to briefly highlight some of this summer’s most important legal changes affecting Oregon healthcare organizations.
MSO and Noncompete Changes
- Oregon Senate Bill 951, later amended by House Bill 3410, significantly revised Oregon’s rules on the corporate practice of medicine and noncompetition agreements with Oregon-licensed physicians, nurse practitioners, or physician assistants (together, “licensees”).
- Corporate Practice of Medicine: Management service organizations (MSOs) cannot own or control majority interests of a medical group they manage, nor direct business or clinical functions that affect medical decision-making. The effective date of those restrictions is different for existing MSOs versus new MSOs.
- Non-competes: In general, non-competes with licensees are now unenforceable, including existing non-competes. However, there are exceptions for (i) limited recruitment arrangements with employed licensees, and (ii) for licensees who own at least 1.5% of a practice. Accordingly, while establishing non-competes with employed licensees may be challenging (if not impossible), groups with 66 or fewer equal owners will likely be able to enforce non-competes as to those owners.
HIPAA Reproductive Rule
- In response to the Dobbs decision and resulting state law enforcement actions involving patients and providers of reproductive healthcare, in April 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services amended HIPAA’s Privacy Rule to address reproductive health care.
- In a June 2025 ruling, a federal trial court vacated most of those amendments, which effectively ended the reproduction healthcare protections under HIPAA nationwide.
- However, the court did not disturb amendments to the Privacy Rule related to substance use disorder information in notices of privacy practices, which continue to have a compliance deadline of February 16, 2026.
H-1B Visa Fee Increase
- President Trump recently imposed a $100,000 fee on all new H-1B visa petitions after September 21, 2025.
- Healthcare employers often sponsor medical residents and other physicians through the H-1B visa program, especially in rural or underserved areas where there is a shortage of providers.
- At this time, there is no exemption for healthcare employers, but in a recent letter the American Medical Association urged the Department of Homeland Security to exempt H-1B physicians.
It is unclear if that exemption will be granted and how these new requirements will be implemented, so stay tuned and check the White House’s FAQs.
For more information, please contact our healthcare attorneys, Mario Conte, Jeffrey D. Kirtner and Andrew G. Lewis. This summary provides general information and should not be construed as legal advice or a legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances. If you have specific legal questions, you are urged to consult with your attorney concerning your own situation.