When Washington Adventist Hospital of Maryland hired ECRI Institute to provide equipment planning services for their new 170-bed hospital, they were in a financial bind. Their Certificate of Need (CON) budget for patient care equipment was only $33 million. But, after we completed detailed user group meetings, it was clear that the actual cost for medical equipment would be closer to $65 million.
Our client was not alone in getting caught in the CON budget squeeze. Currently, 35 U.S. states maintain some form of CON program—including all states east of the Mississippi, except Pennsylvania and New Hampshire. CON programs give the state government the power to determine whether there is a need for a new hospital or nursing home before it is approved for construction.