Session Laws

Whereas, The deferred operation of this act would tend to defeat its purpose, which is to immediately regulate the use of innovative services and new technologies, therefore it is hereby declared to be an emergency law, necessary for the immediate preservation of the public convenience.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 25B of chapter 111 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 1992 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the word "dollars", in line 109, the following words:- ; provided, however, that expenditures for, or the acquisition of, any replacement of medical, diagnostic or therapeutic equipment defined as new technology or innovative services for which a determination of need has issued or which was exempt from determination of need, shall not require a determination of need and shall not be included in the calculation of the expenditure minimum.

SECTION 2. Section 25C of said chapter 111, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the first paragraph the following paragraph:-

No person or agency of the commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof shall provide an innovative service or use a new technology, as such terms are defined in section twenty-five B, in any location other than in a health care facility, as such term is defined in section twenty-five B, unless the person or agency first is issued a determination of need therefor by the department.

SECTION 3. Said section 25C of said chapter 111, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the second paragraph and inserting in place thereof the following paragraph:-

No person or agency of the commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof shall acquire for location in other than a health care facility a unit of medical, diagnostic, or therapeutic equipment, other than equipment used to provide an innovative service or which is a new technology, as such terms are defined in section twenty-five B, with a fair market value in excess of one hundred and fifty thousand dollars unless the person or agency notifies the department of the person's or agency's intent to acquire such equipment and of the use that will be made of the equipment. Such notice shall be made in writing and shall be received by the department at least thirty days before contractual arrangements are entered into to acquire the equipment with respect to which notice is given. A determination by the department of need therefor shall be required for any such acquisition (i) if the notice required by this paragraph is not filed in accordance with the requirements of this paragraph, and (ii) if the requirements for exemption under subsection (a) of section twenty-five C> are not met.

SECTION 4. Said section 25C of said chapter 111, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by inserting after the word "twenty-five C>", in line 69, the following:- ; provided, however, that in no event shall any person who acquires a unit of magnetic resonance imaging equipment for location other than in a health care facility refer or influence any referrals of patients to said equipment, unless said person is a physician directly providing services with that equipment; provided, however, that for the purposes of this section, no public advertisement shall be deemed a referral or an influence of referrals; and provided, further, that any person who has an ownership interest in said equipment, whether direct or indirect, shall disclose said interest to patients utilizing said equipment in a conspicuous manner.

Each person or agency operating a unit of equipment described in this section shall submit annually to the department information and data in connection with utilization and volume rates of said equipment on a form or forms prescribed by the department.

SECTION 5. Subsection (c) of section 25C> of said chapter 111, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 88 to 91, inclusive, the words ", or if the department finds, within thirty days after receipt of notice in accordance with this subsection, that the equipment will be used to provide services for inpatients of a hospital, other than on an occasional and irregular basis",- and by striking out the last sentence.

SECTION 6. Notwithstanding the provisions of any general or special law to the contrary, any person who, under the solo or group practice exclusion from the definition of "clinic" contained in section fifty-two of chapter one hundred and eleven of the General Laws, (i) prior to the effective date of this section, filed notice of intent to acquire medical, diagnostic or therapeutic equipment used to provide an innovative service or which is a new technology, as such terms are defined in section twenty-five B of said chapter one hundred and eleven, other than magnetic resonance imaging equipment, or (ii) on or before December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and ninety-one, acquired medical, diagnostic or therapeutic equipment used to provide an innovative service or which is a new technology, as such terms are defined in section twenty-five B of said chapter one hundred and eleven, may do so without obtaining a determination of need from the department of public health. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no such person may implement an addition, expansion, conversion, or transfer of ownership, as such terms are defined in sections twenty-five B to twenty-five G, inclusive, of said chapter one hundred and eleven, and the regulations promulgated thereunder, unless such person first notifies the department of public health.

SECTION 7. Sections one, two, three and five shall take effect as of December thirty-first, nineteen hundred and ninety-one.