As we know, Physicians who banded together to negotiate medical reimbursement rates quickly ran afoul of the Department of Justice and anti-trust law, charged with illegal price fixing. At first glance, labor unions, may appear to offer a model solution to the problem of negotiations between physicians and insurers. Labor unions enjoy exemption from anti-trust law. Under these laws, collective bargaining can only take places between employees and employers. Whether or not labor law provides a useful tool for organized medicine therefore depends upon the individual physician's employment situation.
Independent contractors are neither employees nor employers.
However, if they hold positions of authority within a hospital or teaching facility, they may be found to be supervisory agents of the employer with regard to other staff of that facility. Employed physicians of a private practice, a hospital, an HMO or a government entity may be eligible to form a union under the NLRA or under laws covering public sector workers. Residents and interns were formerly held to be students, non-employees under the law. Answering this question can be complicated. A hospital may be the direct employer of some staff, and a contractor of other services.