Important Issues

On February 12, the DC Committee on Health marked up and passed a bill to revise the certificate of need (CON) process.

While not perfect, this bill is a MAJOR improvement from the current situation and if passed will help physician practices avoid unnecessary and unneeded paperwork.

The current CON situation in DC is confusing, primarily because the definitions on who and what needs a CON in DC in ambiguous at best. Private practices were receiving notices of potential CON hearings because of staff changes or office refurbishments, which would have cost these practice thousands of dollars in extra cost.

MSDC, working with Councilmembers, introduced a bill to reform the process by, among other things, exempting small independent practices from the process. MSDC testified at the bill's hearing. The mark-up added some new changes to the original bill, including:

• Adding additional types of practices to the exempt list, like FQHCs and behavioral health facilities.
  
• Updating the definition of group practice as suggested by MSDC.
• Exempting more types of practice updates like EHR upgrades

MSDC has some concerns with some provisions but views this bill overall as a major improvement from the status quo. The timeline for Council consideration is unknown but MSDC will be active pushing for its passage.