North Dakota Administrative Code › Title 33 - State Department of Health › Article 33-03 - State Department of Health › Chapter 33-03-31 - Certificate of Public Advantage › Section 33-03-31-05 - Departmental review

Current through Supplement No. 393, July, 2024
1.
Decision.
The department shall issue a decision consisting of findings of fact and
				conclusions of law on the application for a certificate and an order either
				approving the application, not approving it, or approving it subject to terms
				and conditions. The decision of the department must be based upon the record,
				which must consist of all information and documentation filed with the
				department by the applicants and any interested persons in the proceeding,
				including responses to the department's information requests and testimony
				presented at the public hearing.
2.
Criteria applicable to applications.
North Dakota Century Code section 23-17.5-03 sets forth the standards by
				which the department is to measure whether the likely benefits to health care
				consumers resulting from the cooperative agreement outweigh any disadvantages
				attributable to a reduction in competition that may result from the agreement.
a. Potential benefits. In evaluating the
				potential benefits to health care consumers from a cooperative agreement, the
				department may consider the following criteria:
(1) Enhancement of the quality of health care
				services. The department may consider the likely effect of the cooperative
				agreement on patient or client outcomes. The department may consider the
				standards and criteria used by the applicable professional accreditation or
				certification agencies or bodies or any other generally accepted quality
				measures.
(2) Geographical
				proximity of health care facilities to the communities traditionally served.
				The department may consider the extent to which the cooperative agreement is
				likely to:
(a) Make a new health care service
				or product available in a particular geographic area.
(b) Prevent the closing or substantial
				downsizing of a health care facility or the elimination or reduction of a
				health care service that would otherwise be likely to occur without the
				cooperative agreement.
(c)
				Preserve health care facilities or services in one community at the expense of
				health care facilities or services in another community.
(3) Gains in cost efficiency. The department
				may consider the extent to which the proposed cooperative agreement is likely
				to result in:
(a) Any cost savings to the
				applicants.
(b) Any cost savings
				being passed on to the health care consumer.
(c) Cost shifting through higher prices to
				other payers or purchasers of other products and services.
(d) Reduced costs of regulation, both for the
				state and the applicants.
(e) Any
				other result likely to reduce costs to health care consumers.
(f) The extent to which any cost savings will
				be obtained at the expense of a degradation of the quality of medical products
				or services.
(4)
				Improvements in the utilization of health care resources and equipment.
(5) Avoidance of duplication of
				health care resources. The department may consider:
(a) The extent to which the same or
				substitute products or services are available in the same community or
				geographic market.
(b) Any excess
				capacity in the provision of the same or substitute products and services
				existing within the same community or geographical market.