Mississippi Administrative Code
Title 15 - Mississippi Department of Health
Part 8 - Office of Health Policy and Planning
Subpart 90 - Planning and Resource Development
Chapter 04 - Perinatal Care
Section 15-8-90-04-404 - Certificate of Need Criteria and Standards for Neonatal Special Care Services
Section 15-8-90-04-404.02 - Certificate of Need Criteria and Standards for Neonatal Special Care Services
Current through September 24, 2024
The Mississippi State Department of Health will review applications for a Certificate of Need to establish neonatal special care services under the statutory requirements of Sections 41-7-173, 41-7-191, and 41-7-193, Mississippi Code of 1972, as amended. The MSDH will also review applications for Certificate of Need according to the general criteria listed in the Mississippi Certificate of Need Review Manual; all adopted rules, procedures, and plans of the Mississippi State Department of Health; and the specific criteria and standards listed below.
All neonatal intensive care units providing subspecialty care are reviewable under the Certificate of Need law based upon the addition/conversion of hospital beds required to establish such units.
Those facilities desiring to provide neonatal special care services shall meet the capacity and levels of neonatal care for the specified facility (Specialty, Subspecialty or Regional) as outlined by the American Academy of Pediatrics, Policy Statement, Levels of Neonatal Care (PEDIATRICS Vol. 130, No. 3, September 2012).
Need Criterion 1: Minimum Procedures
The application shall demonstrate that the Perinatal Planning Area (PPA) wherein the proposed services are to be offered had a minimum of 3,600 deliveries for the most recent 12-month reporting period. MSDH shall determine the need for neonatal special care services based upon the following:
a. Two (2) neonatal intensive (subspecialty) care bed per 1,000 live births in a specified Perinatal Planning Area for the most recent 12-month reporting period; and
b. Six (6) neonatal intermediate (specialty) care beds per 1,000 live births in a specified Perinatal Planning Area for the most recent 12-month reporting period.
Neonatal intensive care beds can only be housed within a hospital designated as a Level III facility. Neonatal intermediate or specialty care beds can be housed within either a Level II, Level III or Level IV facility.
Applications submitted by existing providers of neonatal special care services, which seek to expand capacity by adding or converting neonatal special care beds must document the need for the proposed project. The applicant shall demonstrate that the facility in question has maintained an occupancy rate for neonatal special care services of at least seventy percent (70%) for the most recent two (2) years or maintained an eighty percent (80%) neonatal special care services occupancy rate for the most recent year, notwithstanding the neonatal special care bed need outlined in Table 4-5 below. The applicant may be approved for additional or conversion of neonatal special care beds to meet projected demand balanced with optimum utilization rate for the Perinatal Planning Area.
Need Criterion 2: Minimum Bed Requirement for Single Neonatal Special Care Unit
A single neonatal special care unit (Subspecialty or Regional) that is Level III or greater should contain a minimum of fifteen (15) beds (neonatal intensive care and/or neonatal intermediate care). An adjustment downward may be considered for a specialty unit when travel time to an alternate unit is a serious hardship due to geographic remoteness.
Need Criterion 3: Travel Time
The application shall document that the proposed services will be available within one (1) hour normal driving time of ninety-five percent (95%) of the population in rural areas and within thirty (30) minutes normal driving time in urban areas.
Need Criterion 4: Referral Networks
The application shall document that the applicant has established referral networks to transfer infants requiring more sophisticated care than is available in less specialized facilities.
Need Criterion 5: Data Requirement
The application shall affirm that the applicant will record and maintain, at a minimum, the following information regarding charity care and care to the medically indigent and make it available to the Mississippi State Department of Health within fifteen (15) business days of request:
a. source of patient referral;
b. utilization data e.g., number of indigent admissions, number of charity admissions, and inpatient days of care;
c. demographic/patient origin data;
d. cost/charges data; and
e. any other data pertaining directly or indirectly to the utilization of services by medically indigent or charity patients which the Department may request.
Need Criterion 6: Non-Discrimination Provision
The applicant shall document that within the scope of its available services, neither the facility nor its participating staff shall have policies or procedures which would exclude patients because of race, age, sex, ethnicity, or ability to pay.
