As the Practice Administrator for several Orthopaedic Surgeons providing care to constituents in Virginia,  I am writing to urge your support of meaningful reform of the Certificate of Public Need (COPN) laws. These laws restrict opportunities for health care providers to invest in their businesses to expand care for patients. Virginia’s laws are among the most restrictive in the country. Advancements in technology and medical care allow us to offer more services outside the hospital setting at great savings to patients and insurance payors. We have found that the execution of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) has placed significant financial burden on patients who require medical care and surgery  (in the form of increased co-payments, co-insurance and deductibles).  Offering lower cost solutions (with equal quality and efficiency) is essential at this juncture in our history.  

We have an AAAHC accredited office-based surgical suite that we built in 2009 to serve our patients.  Our goal was to reduce the cost of orthopaedic surgery in our general service area (Harrisonburg and Rockingham County).  We have made great headway toward this endeavor, but continue to be significantly obstructed by the current Virginia state COPN laws.   As we strive to make care more affordable through innovation, integration, and competition, we need to be able to provide a wider array of services. Virginia’s COPN laws only serve as a barrier to this effort and stomp out any opportunity to use competition to allow choice and drive down costs.   Our story is just one example of this barrier.  

We are in support of legislation that will strategically deregulate certain components of COPN and expand access to care for patients in Virginia. 

Respectfully,
Lindsay A. McHone

Administrator, Hess Orthopaedic Center and Sports Medicine, PLC and Valley Outpatient Services, LLC