Health Systems Planning

The major functions of Health Systems Planning (HSP) include the administration of the Certificate of Need (CON) program; preparation of the Statewide Health Care Facilities and Services Plan; health care data collection, analysis and reporting; and hospital financial review and reporting.

The CON program promotes appropriate health facility and service development that addresses a public need. The CON program strives to ensure accessibility for needed services while limiting duplication or excess capacity of facilities and services.

HSP has statutory authority to gather and analyze significant amounts of hospital financial, billing and discharge data. Information collected, verified, analyzed and reported on includes hospital expenses and revenues, uncompensated care volumes, and other financial data as well as hospital utilization, demographic, clinical, charge, payer and provider statistics. The office produces an annual acute care hospital financial stability report and biennial utilization study reflective of these data analyses.

The office posts these reports on the website, as well as separate hospital utilization tables and financial dashboards and a page dedicated to assisting consumers with hospital billing and other hospital concerns. HSP continues to review requests by consumers to verify that their hospital charges are in agreement with the hospital charge masters.