Certificate-of-Need State Laws and Total Knee Arthroplasty

CON programs appear to have influenced the delivery of care for TKA. Although our data suggest that these laws are associated with lower per capita utilization of TKA and the use of higher-volume facilities, we were unable to detect any strong evidence that CON regulations have been associated with improved quality of care or have limited growth in the utilization of this procedure over time. Confounding population and geographic factors may influence these findings and further study is needed to determine whether or not these programs have served their purpose and should be retained.