Elimination of Florida Certificate of Need (CON) Could Set Off Cardiac Services "Arms Race"

LAS VEGAS - April 18, 2017 - PRLog -- Healthcare consulting firm, HealthGroup West has a long history of advising hospital, health system and independent physician practice clients on market dynamics and the development of effective strategies to position the organizations for success. Founder and Principal Consultant Kevin Curtis is watching the various initiatives to eliminate or scale back certificate of need (CON) laws across the country with interest, having supported clients through the deregulation process in states such as Ohio and Pennsylvania in the past. He anticipates that elimination of CON will set off an initial "arms race" for higher end services such as cardiology, and encourages hospitals, health systems and independent physician practices to plan ahead of final legislation.

Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia currently have CON programs in place. New Hampshire became the latest state to repeal its laws in September 2016. "There have been large political pushes for CON repeal across the country in prior years, but many of these efforts have lost support before they got too far in the legislature. This year, the Florida repeal initiative appears to have traction in the face of considerable opposition from the state's hospitals and health systems, and there may well be a domino effect to other states," noted Curtis. Efforts to eliminate or scale back CON legislation have reached state legislatures in Florida, West Virginia, Virginia and North Carolina in recent months; the Florida House of Representatives Health & Human Services Committee voted 12-5 in early April to approve CON repeal for state hospitals.

"Once it was likely that CON changes were on the horizon in Ohio and Pennsylvania, organizations that did not wait for the inevitable and aggressively planned for increased competition held the strategic advantage," said Curtis. He adds, "This round of potential deregulation comes at a time of significant instability in the healthcare industry, with the uncertainty surrounding the future of the Affordable Care Act and what could replace it, and as healthcare providers wrestle with the transition to value-based payment models. Any one of these changes is monumental on its own – the combination of one or more happening simultaneously is potentially epic. Healthcare providers, including hospitals and independent physician practices, should be considering multiple scenarios in their planning."

HealthGroup West advises hospitals, health systems and independent physician practices on strategy, business development, contracting, capital investment and operational efficiency. For more information, visit http://www.healthgroupwest.com.