With certificate of need laws in an ever-constant state of flux, hospices have weighed in on the pros and cons of these regulations.
On one side of the coin, CON laws can limit access to hospice and their growth potential. On the other side, CONs can spell the difference between surviving and thriving hospice sustainability, along with quality care.
The presence or absence of CON regulations in a state can bear down on a hospice’s ability to do business within their service regions, according to Craig Dresang, CEO of California-based YoloCares.
“It’s the difference between surviving and thriving,” Dresang told Hospice News in an email. “In non-CON states, many of the best providers have to allocate significant resources to compete with — or fight off — a tsunami of loosely-regulated competitors who may value profit over people. CONs help high-quality, community-integrated programs to thrive. Without CONs, many of the best programs struggle just to survive.”
One hospice CEO told Hospice News on background that lax regulatory requirements in some states make the hospice industry an easy target for “bad acting” operators to step into. These operators get into hospice for the “wrong reasons” that focus solely on profit and not on patient care, the CEO said.
Standing out from the crowd in states that don’t require a CON can be a difficult feat for hospices. Some stretch their budgets thin by pouring money into marketing efforts and referral outreach.
CONs are primarily...
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