Since its 1964 inception in Rochester, NY, Certificate of Need (CON) has been a center of controversy and opportunity. The debate between competition and regulation continues to flare today, and many of these arguments were posed in the “Bridges or Barriers” session. Vital to the debate are the observations of those affected including:
-the community (consumers of health care) -the providers (health caregivers) -the payors (business and insurance)
This session would use the pro and con presentations in the session immediately before as a catalyst to gather and document feedback from participants. The format would include a moderated town hall meeting format which actively solicits the experiences, opinions and recommendations of the audience to establish a database of valuable information.
The moderator would draw upon knowledge gained from twelve years of assessment of CON programs around the United States, plus information from numerous studies and surveys. With 36 states (plus the District of Columbia) still administering CON programs, the diversity of experience and defensibility is both interesting and exhilarating. This would also bring to bear the involvement of the American Health Planning Association which has a long history of advocating reasonable community-based planning and implementation.
See www.ahpanet.orgLearning Objectives: 1.List numerous planning methods to assure a healthy community; 2.Assess the value of cooperative planning and regulation to the community; and 3.Take a defensible position in the debate of managed care vs. planned regulation.
Keywords: Certificate of Need, Planning
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: American Health Planning Association
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.