I came across this presentation that I made a few years ago at the national AAPS conference and wanted to save it for future reference and the interested. For those that are not familiar with Certificate of Need (CON) laws, many states have created legislation which restricts the purchase, ownership or operation of certain medically-related capital goods, services or businesses. This .pdf format of a PowerPoint presentation is a primer.
My interest in CON laws was piqued when I began considering potential future ownership of a surgery center, but realized that depending on the state in which I reside, that may not be my decision. If politicians (and even my established medical competition, like the Big Hospital Corporations in town) decide that there is not a public “need” for my services, then I can be denied permission to purchase, operate, practice, compete.
The general trend has been towards a peeling back of such laws in many states, but in others, you might not be able to buy a simple x-ray machine for your practice without a politicized agreement of public “need.” If approved, THEN you get to jump through the regulatory and licensing hoops involved with the actual purchase and operation of said machine. But without the CON approval, you do not pass “Go.”