The Michigan State Medical Society has launched a campaign to block new standards implemented by the Certificate of Need Commission to restrict the number of available surgical sites in Michigan.

The Wayne State University Physician Group currently has an application for a CON pending with the commission in relation to its purchase of a proposed ambulatory care center in Troy, Mich.

Previously, Michigan CON regulations only required a minimum number of cases in order to obtain approval for opening an operating room. The recently passed standards require minimum volume and also restrict the number of cases that may be counted to only those procedures that are performed in an operating room. This new requirement essentially limits the ability of physicians and other parties interested in entering the health-care marketplace from obtaining a CON to open a new operating room.

In addition, the commission voted to implement this regulation immediately. In doing so, those who have already submitted CON applications may be subject to the new rules and will likely not be able to meet the new requirements. Planning to build a surgical facility and file a CON application requires significant spending. Those entities that filed their applications in good faith will now be subject to the new rules, potentially jeopardizing their investments.

The actions of the CON commission will stifle innovation and much needed competition in the health-care marketplace; furthermore, the tactics used by the commission to rush through the regulations failed to provide any due process for the physicians with applications already in process.

Current law allows the legislature to overrule recommendations by the commission if those recommendations are deemed to be unreasonable or against the public interest. However, the window of opportunity is very narrow. The legislature must act before Jan. 26 to block these rules. Additionally, the legislature is allowed to periodically review the actions and composition of the CON Commission and make changes to the statute that governs the CON process.

Visit the MSMS Action Center to speak out on this important matter at http://capwiz.com/msms/issues/alert/?alertid=8373126. For more information, please call Colin Ford at (517) 336-5737 or cford@msms.org.