Reference no: EM133954117
Health Policy Issue: Certificate of Need
A certificate of need (CON) allows a healthcare provider to build a new facility, make other high-dollar capital investments, and develop new services. A process exists in states with CON laws that requires providers to demonstrate a need for these new services and expenditures. The basic assumption of CON regulations is that this regulatory process is an effective healthcare cost control measure. Several decades ago, all states in the United States had CON laws. Today, approximately two-thirds of states still have CON regulations.
You are a legislative consultant based in West Virginia. A hospital in Kenova, West Virginia, is interested in creating a high-quality long-term care facility for elderly patients. After conducting a market study, the hospital administration has identified Kenova as a region where the local healthcare facilities are currently inadequate to meet the existing and expected future demands. The senior management views this new long-term care facility as an opportunity to rectify this concern.
As they begin to develop a business plan, however, they discover the new project will require authorization by the West Virginia Health Facilities & Services Review Board because of the state's CON laws. In West Virginia, there is a specific CON law established in 1974 that regulates the construction of a wide range of healthcare facilities, including long-term care facilities, hospitals, birthing centers, and dialysis centers.
You are working for the hospital as a legislative consultant on this project. You have been asked to identify the stakeholders and their interest in this entire process to help the hospital's senior management understand who will be involved in and affected by moving forward with the construction of this facility. Also, you will be responsible for understanding the end-to-end process of obtaining a CON and providing senior management with the information they need to make decisions related to this. Because the process for obtaining CON is somewhat complicated, the hospital administration has highly recommended that you research the required efforts from each stakeholder involved in the process during your assessment. Get expert-level assignment help in any subject.
The hospital administration was also recently informed that in order to obtain a CON, developers of healthcare facilities must apply to the local governmental authorities by making the case for why the community in question would benefit from that new development. However, the exact criteria used to determine whether an application for a CON is approved can differ widely between states. The senior management is unsure what the Health Facilities & Services Review Board's criteria are for West Virginia, so they have asked for your recommendations on how best to approach these criteria based on your assessment.
In your project, you should explain to the senior management of the hospital the process to obtain the CON and how each stakeholder is associated with this initiative. You should also share the legal and ethical considerations involved in this process.