H 4001 General Bill, By J.E. Smith, Bales, Battle, Branham, Breeland, J. Brown, 
Clyburn, Cobb-Hunter, Emory, Gourdine, Haskins, M. Hines, Howard, Kennedy, 
Kirsh, Lloyd, Lourie, Mack, Miller, Moody-Lawrence, J.H. Neal, J.M. Neal, Ott, 
Rutherford, Snow and Huggins
 A BILL TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING ARTICLE 27
 TO CHAPTER 7, TITLE 44, SO AS TO ENACT THE "LEWIS BLACKMAN HOSPITAL PATIENT
 PROTECTION ACT" TO REQUIRE HOSPITAL PERSONNEL TO WEAR BADGES IDENTIFYING THEIR
 NAMES, DEPARTMENTS, AND STATUS; TO REQUIRE THAT WRITTEN INFORMATION BE
 PROVIDED TO PATIENTS PRIOR TO ADMISSION CONCERNING WHETHER ANY OF THEIR CARE
 IS TO BE PROVIDED BY RESIDENT PHYSICIANS OR OTHER MEDICAL TRAINEES; TO REQUIRE
 A HOSPITAL TO ASSIGN A PRIMARY ATTENDING PHYSICIAN TO A PATIENT UPON ADMISSION
 AND TO REQUIRE THE ATTENDING PHYSICIAN, OR ANOTHER PHYSICIAN DESIGNATED BY THE
 ATTENDING PHYSICIAN, TO EXAMINE THE PATIENT DAILY AND TO INDICATE SUCH IN THE
 PATIENT'S CHART; TO REQUIRE HOSPITALS WITH OVER ONE HUNDRED BEDS TO HAVE AN
 ATTENDING PHYSICIAN ONSITE AT ALL TIMES TO PROVIDE CONSULTATION AND CARE; TO
 REQUIRE A HOSPITAL TO INFORM A PATIENT AND HIS FAMILY AS TO WHO IS THE
 PATIENT'S ATTENDING PHYSICIAN, THE ONSITE ATTENDING PHYSICIAN, THE HEAD NURSE
 FOR THE PATIENT'S UNIT, AND THE HOSPITAL NURSING SUPERVISOR AND MEDICAL
 DIRECTOR, HOW TO CONTACT THESE INDIVIDUALS, AND THAT THEY MAY CONTACT THESE
 INDIVIDUALS AT ANY TIME; TO REQUIRE HOSPITALS TO POST SIGNS PROVIDING CERTAIN
 TELEPHONE CONTACT INFORMATION; TO PROVIDE CIVIL FINES FOR NONCOMPLIANCE; AND
 TO PROVIDE THAT THIS CHAPTER DOES NOT PRECLUDE A CLAIM THAT MAY HAVE OTHERWISE
 BEEN ASSERTED UNDER COMMON LAW OR ANY OTHER PROVISION OF LAW; AND TO AMEND
 SECTION 40-47-5, RELATING TO THE DEFINITION OF "PHYSICIAN" AND "SURGEON", SO
 AS TO ALSO INCLUDE DOCTORS OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE IN THIS DEFINITION AND TO
 RESTRICT THE USE OF THESE TITLES TO PERSONS LICENSED TO PRACTICE MEDICINE.

   04/10/03  House  Introduced and read first time HJ-42
   04/10/03  House  Referred to Committee on Judiciary HJ-43
   05/22/03  House  Member(s) request name added as sponsor: Huggins

TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING ARTICLE 27 TO CHAPTER 7, TITLE 44, SO AS TO ENACT THE "LEWIS BLACKMAN HOSPITAL PATIENT PROTECTION ACT" TO REQUIRE HOSPITAL PERSONNEL TO WEAR BADGES IDENTIFYING THEIR NAMES, DEPARTMENTS, AND STATUS; TO REQUIRE THAT WRITTEN INFORMATION BE PROVIDED TO PATIENTS PRIOR TO ADMISSION CONCERNING WHETHER ANY OF THEIR CARE IS TO BE PROVIDED BY RESIDENT PHYSICIANS OR OTHER MEDICAL TRAINEES; TO REQUIRE A HOSPITAL TO ASSIGN A PRIMARY ATTENDING PHYSICIAN TO A PATIENT UPON ADMISSION AND TO REQUIRE THE ATTENDING PHYSICIAN, OR ANOTHER PHYSICIAN DESIGNATED BY THE ATTENDING PHYSICIAN, TO EXAMINE THE PATIENT DAILY AND TO INDICATE SUCH IN THE PATIENT'S CHART; TO REQUIRE HOSPITALS WITH OVER ONE HUNDRED BEDS TO HAVE AN ATTENDING PHYSICIAN ONSITE AT ALL TIMES TO PROVIDE CONSULTATION AND CARE; TO REQUIRE A HOSPITAL TO INFORM A PATIENT AND HIS FAMILY AS TO WHO IS THE PATIENT'S ATTENDING PHYSICIAN, THE ONSITE ATTENDING PHYSICIAN, THE HEAD NURSE FOR THE PATIENT'S UNIT, AND THE HOSPITAL NURSING SUPERVISOR AND MEDICAL DIRECTOR, HOW TO CONTACT THESE INDIVIDUALS, AND THAT THEY MAY CONTACT THESE INDIVIDUALS AT ANY TIME; TO REQUIRE HOSPITALS TO POST SIGNS PROVIDING CERTAIN TELEPHONE CONTACT INFORMATION; TO PROVIDE CIVIL FINES FOR NONCOMPLIANCE; AND TO PROVIDE THAT THIS CHAPTER DOES NOT PRECLUDE A CLAIM THAT MAY HAVE OTHERWISE BEEN ASSERTED UNDER COMMON LAW OR ANY OTHER PROVISION OF LAW; AND TO AMEND SECTION 40-47-5, RELATING TO THE DEFINITION OF "PHYSICIAN" AND "SURGEON", SO AS TO ALSO INCLUDE DOCTORS OF OSTEOPATHIC MEDICINE IN THIS DEFINITION AND TO RESTRICT THE USE OF THESE TITLES TO PERSONS LICENSED TO PRACTICE MEDICINE.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION    1.    Chapter 7, Title 44 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

Section 44-7-3410.    This article may be cited as the 'Lewis Blackman Hospital Patient Protection Act'.

Section 44-7-3420.    For purposes of this article:

(1)    'Attending physician' means a licensed physician who has completed his postgraduate medical training and has authority to supervise resident physicians and medical students.

(2)    'Clinical staff and employees' means persons who work in a hospital, in either a paid or an unpaid capacity, whose duties include the personal care or medical treatment of patients. 'Clinical staff and employees' includes, but is not limited to, attending physicians, nurses, resident physicians, medical students, nursing students, and other students and individuals in training in a hospital.

(3)    'Hospital' means a facility organized and administered to provide overnight medical or surgical care or nursing care of illness, injury, or infirmity and may provide obstetrical care, and in which all diagnoses, treatment, or care are administered by or under the direction of persons currently licensed to practice medicine, surgery, or osteopathy. For purposes of this article, the term 'hospital' includes, but is not limited to, the following facilities operated by or under contract with a hospital:

(a)    outpatient clinics and diagnostic centers;

(b)    specialty units within a hospital including, but not limited to, emergency rooms or emergency services and long-term care units;

(c)    ambulatory surgical facilities; and

(d)    acute care hospitals, whether ambulatory or inpatient.

(4)    'Medical student' means an individual who is enrolled in a program culminating in a degree in medicine, dentistry, podiatry, or osteopathic medicine.

(5)    'Patient' means an individual who is being treated by a physician in a hospital.

(6)    'Primary attending physician' means an attending physician who is assigned primary responsibility for a patient's care at the time the patient is admitted to the hospital.

(7)    'Resident physician' means an individual who is participating in an approved graduate medical education (GME) program or a physician who is not in an approved GME program but who is authorized to practice only in a hospital setting. For purposes of this article, the term 'resident physician' includes all interns, residents, and fellows in GME programs or their equivalents.

Section 44-7-3430.    All staff and employees of a hospital including, but not limited to, resident physicians, medical students, nursing students, and other students and individuals in training shall wear badges clearly stating their names, their departments, and their job or student titles. Resident physicians, medical students, nursing students, and other students and individuals in training must be explicitly identified as such on their badges, and their badges must state the year of school or postgraduate study in which they are enrolled. Lettering on badges must be large enough to be clearly visible, must include full titles rather than abbreviations, and must be written in terminology that is understandable to the average person with no medical training.

Section 44-7-3440.(A)(1)    Prior to a patient presenting for admission to a hospital, the patient and his family must be informed in writing whether any part of the patient's care including, but not limited to, examining the patient, performing part of the patient's surgical procedure, or providing postoperative care is to be provided by resident physicians, medical students, nursing students, or other students or individuals in training or any combination of these. If any such individuals are to provide care, whether or not under direct supervision, the patient and his family must be provided in writing with the year of study of the individuals and the duties that the individuals are expected to perform in that patient's care.

(2)    The hospital shall provide the information required by subsection (A)(1) directly to the patient or to the patient's physician who shall provide it to the patient.

(B)    In the case of an emergency admission or any other unanticipated hospital treatment, the hospital shall provide this information to the patient and his family as soon as possible following admission.

Section 44-7-3450.    (A)    Every patient admitted to a hospital must be assigned a primary attending physician. The primary attending physician, or another attending physician designated by the primary attending physician, shall examine the patient daily and shall personally document in the patient's chart that he has examined the patient.

(B)    A patient and his family must be informed in writing:

(1)    as to whom the patient's primary attending physician is and that this physician is the person responsible for the patient's care while he is in the hospital;

(2)    of their right to call the primary attending physician at any time; and

(3)    of the telephone number through which they may directly contact the primary attending physician, or the physician's answering service, in the same way in which an individual would be able to contact his personal physician outside the hospital.

Section 44-7-3460.    A hospital with over one hundred beds must have, at all times, at least one attending physician who is on-site in the hospital and available to provide patient consultation and care for any patient whose primary attending physician is not immediately available in the hospital. A hospital must have a sufficient number of appropriately qualified on-site attending physicians on call and available in the hospital at all times to provide prompt access to competent consultation and care by a qualified attending physician for every patient in the hospital, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

Section 44-7-3470    (A)    A hospital shall inform a patient and his family of who the on-site attending physician and the head nurse are for the patient care unit to which the patient is assigned. The hospital also shall post in each patient care unit, prominently placed and clearly visible to a patient and his family, the telephone numbers through which a patient may contact the head nurse and the on-site attending physician for that unit and the nursing supervisor and medical director for the hospital. The sign must state, and the patient and his family must be informed, that these numbers may be called at any time, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, if the patient or family has patient care concerns. This telephone access must be manned at all times to receive calls.        (B)    A hospital shall inform all clinical staff and employees that they may call the on-site attending physician for consultation on a patient's care at any hour if the patient's primary attending physician is not immediately available in the hospital. The hospital shall provide all clinical staff and employees with the name and telephone number of the on-site attending physician for every patient under their care.

Section 44-7-3480. The Department of Health and Environmental Control shall administer and enforce the provisions of this article, and upon a finding of noncompliance, the department shall assess a civil fine against the hospital of three thousand dollars a day for every day of noncompliance.

Section 44-7-3490.    This article must not be construed to preclude a claim that may have otherwise been asserted under common law or any other provision of law."

SECTION    2.    Section 40-47-5 of the 1976 Code is amended to read:

"Section 40-47-5.    As used in this chapter, 'physician' or 'surgeon' shall mean means a doctor of medicine or doctor of osteopathic medicine licensed or otherwise permitted to practice in accordance with this chapter. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a person may not use the term 'physician', 'medical doctor', 'doctor of medicine', 'surgeon', or 'doctor of osteopathic medicine' in connection with the practice of any healing art or medical treatment if the person is not licensed or otherwise permitted to practice medicine under the provisions of this chapter."

SECTION    3.    This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.