The current COPN system is archaic and clearly designed to protect the interests of hospitals, not patients.  No one is fooled by protestations to the contrary; we are all well aware this system is kept in place by a cadre of hospital lobbyists haunting Richmond.  Physicians have dedicated their lives to helping our patients, and letting us direct the care of said patients in physician-controlled facilities will immeasurably improve both quality and cost of care.  It might even stem the increasingly torrential tide of patients traveling over the border to Maryland to have surgery at one of the dozens of new centers physicians have opened there to solve this issue the only way we can.