Mississippi Administrative Code › Title 15 - Mississippi Department of Health › Part 8 - Office of Health Policy and Planning › Subpart 90 - Planning and Resource Development › Chapter 05 - Acute Care Facilities and Services Overview › Section 15-8-90-05-512 - Positron Emission Tomography (PET) › Section 15-8-90-05-512.01 - Certificate of Need Criteria and Standards for Magnetic Resonance Imaging Services (MRI) › Section 15-8-90-05-512.01.04 - Certificate of Need Criteria and Standards for the Offering of Fixed or Mobile MRI Services

Current through June 25, 2024
An entity proposing to offer MRI services shall obtain
						  Certificate of Need (CON) approval before offering such services.
Need Criterion 1: Minimum
						  Procedures/Population
The entity desiring to offer MRI services must document
						  that the equipment shall perform a minimum of 2,700 procedures (or 1,700
						  procedures for rural hospitals) by the end of the second year of operation.
						  This criterion includes both fixed and mobile MRI equipment. The applicant must
						  show methodology used for the projections.
a. Applicants for non-hospital based MRI
						facilities may submit affidavits from referring physicians. MRI procedures
						projected in affidavits shall be based on actual MRI procedures referred during
						the year.
b. The applicant shall
						document a reasonable population within its service area to justify 2,700
						procedures per year per proposed MRI unit (1,700 procedures per year per
						proposed mobile MRI unit on a route exclusively serving rural
						hospitals).
c. The applicant shall
						demonstrate that all existing units within its defined service area have
						performed an average of 1,700 procedures for the most recent 12-month
						period.
It is recognized that a particular MRI unit may be
						  utilized by more than one provider of MRI services, some of which may be
						  located outside of Mississippi. In such cases all existing or proposed
						  providers of MRI services must jointly meet the required service volume of
						  2,700 (or 1,700 for mobile MRI route exclusively serving rural hospitals)
						  procedures annually by the end of the second year of operation. If the MRI unit
						  in question is presently utilized by other providers of MRI services, the
						  actual number of procedures performed by them during the most recent 12-month
						  period and/or documented projection of physician referrals may be used instead
						  of the formula projections.
Need Criterion 2: Availability of Diagnostic
						  Imaging Modalities
An applicant desiring to offer MRI services must
						  document that a full range of diagnostic imaging modalities for verification
						  and complementary studies will be available at the time MRI services begin.
						  These modalities shall include, but not be limited to, computed tomography
						  (full body), ultrasound, angiography, nuclear medicine, and conventional
						  radiology.
Need Criterion 3:
						  Non-Discrimination
All applicants proposing to offer MRI services shall
						  give written assurance that, within the scope of its available services,
						  neither the facility where the service is provided nor its participating
						  medical personnel shall have policies nor procedures which would exclude
						  patients because of race, color, age, sex, ethnicity, or ability to pay.
Need Criterion 4: Staffing
						  Requirements
The applicant must document that the following staff
						  will be available:
a. Director - A
						full-time, board eligible radiologist or nuclear medicine imaging physician, or
						other board eligible licensed physician whose primary responsibility during the
						prior three years has been in the acquisition and interpretation of clinical
						images. The Director shall have knowledge of MRI through training, experience,
						or documented post-graduate education. The Director shall document a minimum of
						one week of full-time training with a functional MRI facility.
b. One full-time MRI technologist
						radiographer or a person who has had equivalent education, training, and
						experience, who shall be on-site at all times during operating hours. This
						individual must be experienced in computed tomography or other cross sectional
						imaging methods, or must have equivalent training in MRI
						spectroscopy.
Need Criterion 5: Experimental
						  Procedures
The applicant shall document that when an MRI unit is
						  to be used for experimental procedures with formal/approved protocols, a
						  full-time medical physicist or MRI scientist (see definition in Glossary) with
						  at least one year of experience in diagnostic imaging shall be available in the
						  facility.
Need Criterion 6: Data Requirements
The applicant shall provide assurances that the
						  following data regarding its use of the MRI equipment will be kept and made
						  available to MSDH upon request:
a.
						Total number of procedures performed
b. Number of inpatient procedures
c. Number of outpatient procedures
d. Average MRI scanning time per
						procedure
e. Average cost per
						procedure
f. Average charge per
						procedure
g. Demographic/patient
						origin data
h. Days of operation
In addition to the above data recording requirements,
						  the facility should maintain the source of payment for procedures and the total
						  amounts charged during the fiscal year when it is within the scope of the
						  recording system.
Need Criterion 7: CON Approval/Exemption for MRI
						  Equipment
Before the service can be provided, the CON applicant
						  desiring to offer MRI services shall provide written evidence that the
						  specified MRI equipment provider has received CON approval or is exempt from
						  CON approval as determined by through a determination of non-reviewability.
						  Each specified piece of equipment must be exempt from or have CON
						  approval.