Raleigh Radiology has prevailed over Duke Health in an ongoing battle stemming from North Carolina’s certificate-of-needs law, dictating who can offer a new MRI scanner.
Last month, state authorities ruled that Raleigh Radiology could acquire the system for its center in Knightdale, N.C. Founded in 1950, the 65-physician practice is paying nearly $3 million for the new magnetic resonance imaging machine via debt, the Triangle Business Journal reported April 16.
Duke Health had scored approval from North Carolina in September 2021 to acquire its own MRI machine for its campus in Raleigh. But Cardinal Points Imaging of the Carolinas, part of Pinnacle Health Services, appealed the ruling. The Journal said the decision has gone through multiple appeals and reached the state’s supreme court.
Raleigh Radiology’s mobile MR unit imaged nearly 2,400 patients in Knightdale in 2022, and the practice is projecting to see nearly 94% more (or almost 4,600) by next year. Net revenue is expected to reach $2 million in 2026, according to the report.
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.