In April, the New York State Department of Health proposed a regulation to require the inclusion of a health equity impact assessment as part of the certificate-of-need process in the state. The final regulation was adopted on Aug. 30, according to a Sept. 8 report from JDSupra.
The provisions in the final regulation mirror the regulations that were proposed in April, and several will impact ASCs.
Under the law, applications to build new ASCs will require information on "how a proposed project affects the accessibility and delivery of health care services to enhance health equity and contribute to mitigating health disparities in the facility's service area, specifically for medically underserved groups."
The applications will be required to contain information including the demographics of the area, medically underserved groups in the area, impact of the project on medically underserved groups, professional staffing issues related to the project and how the project will improve access to services.
The new rule will be applicable to any ASCs submitting certificate of need applications for the construction or purchase of equipment, the establishment of a new operator, and mergers, consolidations or creations of a new parent entity, acquisitions to purchase facilities and all other changes to the operating certificate.