Radiology groups spar over certificate-of-need application for $1.7M new MRI scanner
Two Connecticut radiology groups are sparring over the state’s certificate-of-need law as one attempts to add a new MRI machine.
Diagnostic Imaging of Southbury recently filed the application with the Office of Health Strategy, asking for permission to buy a second scanner for $1.7 million. It noted that the practice is operating at 120% capacity in the modality and needs additional scheduling slots.
“Efficiency efforts are no longer sufficient to meet continually increasing volumes as well as demand for contrast-involved studies and more complex, long studies such as arthrograms and MRI-guided biopsies, which need to be conducted during normal daytime business hours,” the practice said in its filing, the Shelton Herald reported Monday.
However, competitor Diagnostic Radiology Associates is contesting the application, contending that scanners in Southbury, Connecticut, are “operating well below optimal capacity.” The practice has four locations, including two in the New Haven County community, which has a population of about 20,000.
“If this [new MRI machine] is approved, it will surely have an adverse impact on existing MRI providers,” DRA said according to the Herald.
Diagnostic Imaging of Southbury—part of the larger, four-location Naugatuck Valley Radiology—has been working through the application process for about five months. If it gains approval, it expects to perform about 1,300 additional MRIs in the first year and 2,470 by year 4.
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 NCSL.
Some have sought to scale back their CON laws amid these criticisms. Tennessee, for instance, made it easier to add new MRI and PET scanners in 2024 after hospital giant HCA Healthcare has lobbied for the law change.
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.