Certificate of Need Rules

The CON application forms authorized by G.S. 131E-182(b) request information from the applicants which is designed to address the review criteria found in G.S. 131E-183(a). It has been determined that the rules for establishing diagnostic centers in 10A NCAC 14C .1801, .1802 and .1804 place an impossible burden on applicants as they require applicants to demonstrate that every other provider of the same service has and will continue to operate at 80% of capacity. Capacity is not defined in rule and the data needed to show that the other providers are operating at 80% of capacity is not publicly available. Therefore the rules are proposed to be repealed. The rules for acquiring major medical equipment found in 10A NCAC 14C .3101, .3102 and .3104 are non-specific to the type of equipment the applicant is seeking and provide no guidance to the applicant as to what is required. Therefore, these rules are unnecessary and are proposed to be repealed. The six rules proposed to be repealed increase the complexity of litigation which has a cost to the Department and the applicants.