Starting May 29, Mississippi hospitals will have greater flexibility when it comes to owning and operating single-specialty ASCs, according to a May 23 report from Lexology.
A revision to the Mississippi State Health Plan is amending current certificate of need laws that have made it challenging for hospitals to establish or invest in ASC facilities.
Current certificate of need laws say that no person may offer ASC services without obtaining a CON unless they have provided such services regularly within the last 12 months.
Requirements to obtain a CON have made it difficult or impossible to establish new ASCs in the state, according to the report.
The law has exceptions for single-specialty ASCs owned by physicians or dentists. Physician groups have been able to establish ASCs through the filing of a request for a determination of non-reviewability rather than having to undergo the CON process.
Under the new rule, hospitals may also establish single-specialty ASCs through the submission of an application for a determination of non-reviewability.