Certificate of need, surgical center bills move in House

BY THE NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA

A key committee Thursday signed off on bills that would eliminate the "certificate of need" regulatory process for hospitals and allow patients to stay overnight at ambulatory-surgical centers. House Republican leaders have made priorities of such measures, which they argue will help increase competition in the health-care industry and give patients more choices.

The certificate-of-need process requires hospitals to get state approval before building or expanding facilities or adding certain types of programs. The House Health & Human Services Committee approved a bill (HB 437), sponsored by Rep. Chris Sprowls, R-Palm Harbor, that would do away with the process for hospitals.

Parts of the hospital industry have taken different positions on the issue, with the Florida Hospital Association opposing the bill and the HCA hospital chain supporting it.

Also Thursday, the Health & Human Services Committee approved a bill (HB 85), sponsored by Rep. Heather Fitzenhagen, R-Fort Myers, that would ease a regulation about how long patients can stay at ambulatory-surgical centers. Currently, patients cannot stay overnight, but the bill would allow them to stay up to 24 hours.

Also, the bill would allow the creation of what are known as "recovery care centers," where patients could stay up to 72 hours after surgery. A Senate bill (SB 212) would allow 24-hour stays at ambulatory-surgical centers but does not include the creation of recovery care centers. The Sprowls and Fitzenhagen bills are now ready to go to the full House.