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Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
AMENDED
March 5, 2008
H. 3912
S. Printed 3/5/08--H. [SEC 3/6/08 2:55 PM]
Read the first time April 17, 2007.
TO AMEND SECTION 40-47-30, AS AMENDED, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE REQUIREMENT TO BE LICENSED TO PRACTICE MEDICINE AND TO SPECIFY WHAT IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS PRACTICING MEDICINE, SO AS TO CLARIFY THAT A PHYSICIAN MAY DELEGATE CERTAIN TASKS TO AN UNLICENSED PERSON IF THE PHYSICIAN IS IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE AND TO PROVIDE THAT A PHYSICIAN IS NOT PROHIBITED FROM PRACTICING IN CONSULTATION WITH A SOUTH CAROLINA PHYSICIAN CONCERNING AN OPINION FOR THE SOUTH CAROLINA PHYSICIAN IN MANAGING THE CASE AND TREATMENT OF A PATIENT IN THIS STATE; TO AMEND SECTION 40-47-32, RELATING TO REQUIREMENTS FOR LICENSURE TO PRACTICE MEDICINE, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT A PHYSICIAN WHO GRADUATED FROM A SCHOOL OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES OR CANADA AND WHO HAS BEEN LICENSED FOR FIVE YEARS, RATHER THAN TEN YEARS, IN ANOTHER STATE, THE PHYSICIAN IS ONLY REQUIRED TO DOCUMENT ONE YEAR OF POST GRADUATE RESIDENCY TRAINING AND TO REVISE THE TIME WITHIN WHICH CERTAIN SPECIALTY EDUCATION REQUIREMENTS MUST BE UNDERTAKEN IN ORDER TO BE SUBSTITUTED FOR REQUIRED EXAMINATIONS; AND TO AMEND SECTION 40-47-35, RELATING TO LICENSURE AS AN EXPERT MEDICAL WITNESS, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT RATHER THAN THE BOARD OF MEDICAL EXAMINERS LICENSING A PHYSICIAN AS AN EXPERT WITNESS, A PHYSICIAN WHO TESTIFIES IN A PROCEEDING IN THIS STATE IS DEEMED TO HAVE SUBMITTED TO THE JURISDICTION OF THE BOARD AND TO PROVIDE NOTICE AND INVESTIGATION PROCEDURES FOR COMPLAINTS RECEIVED.
Amend Title To Conform
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 40-47-30(A)(5)(c) of the 1976 Code, as amended by Act 385 of 2006, is further amended to read:
"(c) the task is performed while the physician is present on the premises and in such close proximity as to be readily immediately available to the unlicensed person if needed;"
SECTION 2. Section 40-47-30(A) of the 1976 Code, as amended by Act 385 of 2006, is further amended by adding at the end:
"(10) prohibit a physician from practicing in actual consultation with a physician licensed in this State concerning an opinion for the South Carolina physician's consideration in managing the care or treatment of a patient in this State."
SECTION 3. Section 40-47-32(B)(2)(a)(ii) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 385 of 2006, is amended to read:
"(ii) document a minimum of three years of progressive postgraduate medical residency training in the United States approved by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), American Osteopathic Association (AOA), or postgraduate training in Canada approved by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, except that if an applicant has been actively licensed in another state for ten the preceding five years or more without significant disciplinary action, the applicant is need only required to document one year of postgraduate residency training approved by the board; or"
SECTION 4. Section 40-47-32(D)(11) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 385 of 2006, is amended to read:
"(11) maintenance of certification by a specialty board recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties, the American Osteopathic Association, or another organization approved by the board, as evidenced by having acquired one hundred fifty hours of Category I continuing medical education in the three years preceding the date of the application by an applicant who is currently certified by a specialty board recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties, the American Osteopathic Association, or other organization approved by the board, which certification is not time limited and does not require recertification by examination. Such Category I continuing medical education must be approved by the American Medical Association or American Osteopathic Association, or other national organization approved by the board, as appropriate, and the specialty board of the applicant during the three years preceding the date of application. Seventy-five percent of these hours must be related to the applicant's area of specialty. This is the only exception to the ten year requirement of this subsection that does not require an examination or reexamination."
SECTION 5. Section 40-47-32(G)(2) of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 385 of 2006, is amended to read:
"(2) Graduates of medical schools located outside the United States or Canada shall document a minimum of three years of progressive postgraduate medical residency training approved by the board, except that these graduates who have completed at least two and one-half years of progressive postgraduate medical residency training in the program in which they are currently enrolled may be issued a license upon certification from the program of their good standing and expected satisfactory completion. These graduates who have been actively licensed in another state for the preceding five years or more without significant disciplinary action need only document one year of postgraduate residency training approved by the board. A foreign graduate may satisfy the three year postgraduate training requirement with at least one year of approved training in combination with certification by a specialty board recognized by the ABMS, AOA, or another national organization approved by the board."
SECTION 6. Section 40-47-35 of the 1976 Code, as added by Act 385 of 2006, is amended to read:
"Section 40-47-35. (A) The board may issue a license to a physician licensed in good standing in another state, who has been engaged to testify as an expert medical witness in an administrative, civil, or criminal proceeding in this State. The license only shall authorize practice in this State as an expert medical witness in a particular proceeding in this State. This license must be valid for the duration of the particular proceeding for which it is issued. This license must authorize only practice in this State that is related directly to the particular proceeding for which it is issued. A separate license must be obtained for each proceeding in which the applicant is engaged to testify as an expert medical witness in this State. The applicant shall submit the following items:
(1) a completed application and payment of applicable fees; and
(2) satisfactory documentation of the applicant's engagement as an expert witness in a particular proceeding in this State. A physician testifying as an expert medical witness under oath in a civil, criminal, or administrative proceeding in this State is deemed to have submitted to the jurisdiction of the board. Upon receipt of an initial complaint, the board is authorized to conduct an investigation and proceed in the same manner as provided in state law for physicians licensed in this State, except that service may be effected as provided in subsection (B), of any physician who offers opinion testimony or evidence in bad faith or without a reasonable basis in fact or otherwise acts unethically in conjunction with testifying as an expert in a deposition or at trial.
(B) The board may waive any part or all of a fee for this license for a physician to testify as an expert witness on behalf of a state, county, or municipal agency or office. Service of any notices or correspondence must be made on the physician expert witness by personal service or by certified mail to the address provided by the state licensing entity in the location in which the physician practices or teaches. If the physician cannot be located at the address provided by the state licensing entity, service must be made by delivery of a copy to the state licensing entity in the location in which the physician practices or teaches."
SECTION 7. Section 40-47-20(36) of the 1976 Code, as amended by Act 385 of 2006, is further amended to read:
"(36) 'Practice of Medicine' means:
(a) advertising, holding out to the public or representing in any manner that one is authorized to practice medicine in this State;
(b) offering or undertaking to prescribe, order, give, or administer any drug or medicine for the use of any other person;
(c) offering or undertaking to prevent or to diagnose, correct, or treat in any manner, or by any means, methods, or devices, disease, illness, pain, wound, fracture, infirmity, defect, or abnormal physical or mental condition of a person, including the management of pregnancy and parturition;
(d) offering or undertaking to perform any surgical operation upon a person;
(e) rendering a written or otherwise documented medical opinion concerning the diagnosis or treatment of a patient or the actual rendering of treatment to a patient within this State by a physician located outside the State as a result of transmission of individual patient data by electronic or other means from within a state to such physician or his or her agent;
(f) rendering a determination of medical necessity or a decision affecting the diagnosis and/or treatment of a patient;
(g) using the designation Doctor, Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Physician, Surgeon, Physician and Surgeon, Dr., M.D., D.O., or any combination of these in the conduct of any occupation or profession pertaining to the prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of human disease or condition in a clinical setting, unless such a designation additionally contains the description of another branch of the healing arts for which one holds a valid license in this State that is applicable to the clinical setting; and
(hg) testifying as a physician in an administrative, civil, or criminal proceeding in this State by expressing an expert medical opinion."
SECTION 8. Chapter 59 of Title 38 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 38-59-35. (A) If a hearing provided for in Section 38-59-30, regarding improper claims practices by a health insurer or health maintenance organization results in a determination by the director or his designee that a physician performing medical necessity review services for such insurer has wilfully and knowingly denied claims with no rational basis, the director may file a complaint about such physician to the South Carolina Board of Medical Examiners.
(B) A physician providing medical necessity review services for a health insurer or health maintenance organization operating in this State is deemed to have submitted to the jurisdiction of the South Carolina Board of Medical Examiners to the limited extent of responding to a complaint filed by the director as outlined in subsection (A).
(C) Upon receipt of a complaint from the director, the Board of Medical Examiners is authorized to conduct an investigation and proceed in the same manner as provided in state law for physicians licensed and practicing medicine in this State, except that service may be effected as provided in subsection (D).
(D) Service of any notices or correspondence must be made on the physician by personal service or by certified mail to the registered agent for the health insurer or health maintenance organization for which the physician was providing medical necessity review services."
SECTION 9. Article 1, Chapter 47, Title 40 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 40-47-38. (A) If a physician makes a medical error or knows about or witnesses a medical error committed by another physician that results in great bodily injury or death, the physician shall report the medical error to the board, which shall assess what action, if any, must be taken against the physician committing the medical error.
(B) For purposes of this section, 'great bodily injury' means bodily injury which creates a substantial risk of death or which causes serious, permanent disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of any bodily member or organ."
SECTION 10. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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