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TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ENACTING THE "ANN S. PERDUE HEART PATIENT SAFETY ACT" SO AS TO ADD SECTION 44-7-285 TO PROVIDE THAT A HOSPITAL PROVIDING THERAPEUTIC HEART CATHETERIZATIONS MUST HAVE A CARDIOLOGIST ON SITE AT ALL TIMES; TO ADD SECTION 44-7-295 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT A HOSPITAL PROVIDING THERAPEUTIC HEART CATHETERIZATIONS MAY ONLY DIRECTLY EMPLOY NURSING PERSONNEL AND THAT BY JANUARY 1, 2009, THESE HOSPITALS MAY NOT EMPLOY CONTRACT NURSING PERSONNEL; TO ADD SECTION 44-7-730 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT IF A PERSON DIES IN A HOSPITAL, THE HOSPITAL MUST OFFER IN WRITING TO THE PATIENT'S FAMILY THE RIGHT TO HAVE AN AUTOPSY PERFORMED AND IF THE FAMILY ELECTS TO HAVE THE AUTOPSY PERFORMED, IT MUST BE PERFORMED BY A PATHOLOGIST WHO IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH THE HOSPITAL; AND TO AMEND SECTION 17-5-530, RELATING TO CIRCUMSTANCES REQUIRING THE CORONER OR MEDICAL EXAMINER TO BE NOTIFIED OF CERTAIN DEATHS, SO AS TO REQUIRE SUCH NOTIFICATION WHEN A PERSON DIES IN A HEALTH CARE FACILITY WITHIN TWENTY FOUR HOURS OF HAVING AN INVASIVE PROCEDURE PERFORMED.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. This act may be cited as the "Ann S. Perdue Heart Patient Safety Act".
SECTION 2. Article 3, Chapter 7, Title 44 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 44-7-285. A hospital that performs therapeutic heart catheterizations shall have a cardiologist on site twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
Section 44-7-295. (A) In order to provide quality nursing services, a safe environment, and continuity of care, a hospital that performs therapeutic heart catheterizations may only utilize full-time and part-time nursing personnel who are directly employed by the facility to provide nursing services.
(B) The provisions of subsection (A) may be phased in over a period of eighteen months, and as of January 1, 2009, a hospital that performs therapeutic heart catheterizations may not employ contract nursing personnel."
SECTION 3. Article 9, Chapter 43, Title 44 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 44-43-730. If a patient dies in a hospital, the patient's family, as determined in accordance with Section 44-43-710, has the right to have an autopsy performed, and the family must sign an election or refusal to exercise this right. If an autopsy is performed pursuant to this section, the autopsy must be performed by a pathologist, or another person authorized to perform an autopsy, who is not affiliated with the hospital in which the person died."
SECTION 4. Section 17-5-530(A) of the 1976 Code, is amended to read:
"(A) If a person dies:
(1) as a result of violence;
(2) as a result of apparent suicide;
(3) when in apparent good health;
(4) when unattended by a physician;
(5) in any suspicious or unusual manner;
(6) while an inmate of a penal or correctional institution; or
(7) as a result of stillbirth when unattended by a physician; or
(8) in a health care facility, as defined in Section 44-7-130, within twenty four hours after having undergone an invasive procedure at the health care facility;
a person having knowledge of the death immediately must notify the county coroner's or medical examiner's office. This procedure also must be followed upon discovery of anatomical material suspected of being or determined to be a part of a human body."
SECTION 5. This act takes effect July 1, 2007.
This web page was last updated on Monday, June 22, 2009 at 2:59 P.M.