A certificate, issued by a governmental or planning agency, which approves the hospital’s contention that it needs a given facility or service (for example, open heart surgery). A certificate of need is required under many regulatory situations in order to obtain approval to build, purchase, or institute the service in question.
A declaration from a government planning agency indicating that the construction or alteration of an existing health facility is justified. Designed initially in the 1970s to prevent the construction of duplicate health care facilities in local or regional markets, some analysts have suggested that CONs have instead defended existing hospitals from unwanted competition.
A governmental program established to oversee significant capital expenditures and service modifications within healthcare facilities.