Section 450. Need for new service

A. No new open heart services should be approved unless:

1. The service will be available in an inpatient hospital with an established cardiac catheterization service that has performed an average of 1,200 DEPs for the relevant reporting period and has been in operation for at least 30 months;

2. Open heart surgery services located in the health planning district performed an average of 400 open heart and closed heart surgical procedures for the relevant reporting period; and

3. The proposed new service will perform at least 150 procedures per room in the first year of operation and 250 procedures per room in the second year of operation without significantly reducing the utilization of existing open heart surgery services in the health planning district.

B. Preference may be given to a project that locates new open heart surgery services at an inpatient hospital more than 60 minutes driving time one way under normal condition from any site in which open heart surgery services are currently available and:

1. The proposed new service will perform an average of 150 open heart procedures in the first year of operation and 200 procedures in the second year of operation without significantly reducing the utilization of existing open heart surgery rooms within two hours driving time one way under normal conditions from the proposed new service location below 400 procedures per room; and

2. The hospital provided an average of 1,200 cardiac catheterization DEPs during the relevant reporting period in a service that has been in operation at least 30 months.

Historical Notes

Derived from Volume 25, Issue 09, eff. February 15, 2009.

Statutory Authority

§ 32.1-102.2 of the Code of Virginia.