Raleigh Radiology bests UNC in battle over state’s certificate-of-need law
Raleigh Radiology has bested UNC Health in a battle stemming from North Carolina’s certificate-of-need law.
State authorities recently gave the 75-year-old private practice the go-ahead to purchase an MRI scanner for its imaging center in Clayton, a satellite town of Raleigh. Raleigh Radiology earned approval over a competing application from Johnston Imaging LLC, a subsidiary of UNC Health, the Triangle Business Journal reported Monday.
Both applications came in response to the 2024 State Medical Facilities Plan, which highlighted the need for a new MRI machine in Johnston County—an area that has seen its population swell in recent years. Raleigh Radiology will pay about $3.1 million for the service expansion, expected to be completed by October 2025.
UNC had sought to add an MRI scanner at its Johnston Medical Mall location. The large medical office building is located across from UNC Health Johnston’s Smithfield campus, the journal noted. However, authorities found Raleigh Radiology’s application to be more convincing in terms of increasing competition while producing lower average net revenue and operating expenses per adjusted MRI procedure.
CON, or certificate of need, laws are state regulatory mechanisms for approving major capital expenditures for certain healthcare facilities, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Such regulations are meant to control costs and avoid unnecessary or duplicative expansion in a defined geography. However, critics have accused providers of wielding CON laws inappropriately to limit competition. About 35 states and Washington operate CON programs, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
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Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.