Virginia Law

A. The commissioner shall consult with the Attorney General when reviewing an application.

B. The commissioner may consult with the Federal Trade Commission when reviewing an application.

C. The commissioner may consult and coordinate with other affected jurisdictions when reviewing an application.

D. The commissioner shall consult with all other affected agencies of the Commonwealth when reviewing an application.

E. The commissioner in his review shall examine the record developed by the authority, the authority's recommendation for approval, and any additional information received from the parties. In addition, the commissioner may consider any other data, information, or advice available to him.

F. The commissioner shall not render a decision on the application until all supplemental information requested has been received.

G. The commissioner shall consider the following factors when conducting a review of an application:

1. Advantages.

a. Enhancement of the quality of hospital and hospital-related care, including mental health services and treatment of substance abuse, provided to citizens served by the authority, resulting in improved patient satisfaction;

b. Enhancement of population health status consistent with the regional health goals established by the authority;

c. Preservation of hospital facilities in geographical proximity to the communities traditionally served by those facilities to ensure access to care;

d. Gains in the cost-efficiency of services provided by the hospitals involved;

e. Improvements in the utilization of hospital resources and equipment;

f. Avoidance of duplication of hospital resources;

g. Participation in the state Medicaid program; and

h. Total cost of care.

2. Disadvantages.

a. The extent of any likely adverse impact of the proposed cooperative agreement on the ability of health maintenance organizations, preferred provider organizations, managed health care organizations, or other health care payers to negotiate reasonable payment and service arrangements with hospitals, physicians, allied health care professionals, or other health care providers;

b. The extent of any reduction in competition among physicians, allied health care professionals, other health care providers, or other persons furnishing goods or services to, or in competition with, hospitals that is likely to result directly or indirectly from the proposed cooperative agreement;

c. The extent of any likely adverse impact on patients in the quality, availability, and price of health care services; and

d. The availability of arrangements that are less restrictive to competition and achieve the same benefits or a more favorable balance of benefits over disadvantages attributable to any reduction in competition likely to result from the proposed cooperative agreement.

H. The commissioner shall approve the application if he finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the benefits likely to result from the proposed cooperative agreement outweigh the disadvantages likely to result from a reduction in competition from the proposed cooperative agreement.

I. In the selection and application of the measures for reviewing the proposed benefits of the cooperative agreement, as well as during the monitoring and active supervision of any approved cooperative agreement, the commissioner shall:

1. Draw from consensus health and health care metrics, such as those being developed pursuant to the Virginia state innovation model development initiative and state population health improvement plan, to ensure the validity and consistency of the measure;

2. Use historical actual experience in the region to establish baseline performance and evaluate progress over time;

3. Consider recommendations on the measures and goals from the technical advisory panel appointed pursuant to 12VAC5-221-120; and

4. Allow for flexibility, to the extent quantifiable goals or targets are specified, should environmental factors that are outside the control of the parties change significantly.