The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has put forth a plan to eliminate a number of rules within the state's certificate of need program, including rules affecting surgery centers, according to a Poyner Spruill post.
The proposed changes would eliminate the need for a CON in relation to operating rooms, GI/endoscopy procedure rooms, acute care beds and psychiatric beds, amongst several other services.
The CON program would maintain its definitional rules and performance standards, according to the report. Under the state's reporting requirements, ASCs are required to report charges and reimbursement for the 20 most common surgical procedures and outpatient imaging procedures. But, at the end of last year the state updated the reporting requirements from quarterly to annual.