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The South Carolina Board of Health and Environmental Control has received required legislative approval to move forward with the adoption of new licensure regulations for South Carolina ASCs. There is still a notice period and an effective date has not been announced.
The rulemaking addresses licensure aspects of the CON law change spelled out by the General Assembly in the 2023 Session- including the details which define the Indigent Care Reports and Charity Care requirements that apply to all ASCs established after May 16, 2023. It also contains provisions pertinent to accreditation requirements when offering invasive cardiac procedures and catheterization.
The rulemaking gave DHEC an opportunity to update the overall regulation. SCASCA weighed in with numerous suggestions to improve the rule. As a result, DHEC is removing the requirement that “The facility shall have the capability of obtaining blood and blood products to meet emergency situations”.
Unfortunately, and in spite of considerable objection and differing CMS requirements, the new licensure rule re-imposes transfer agreements on South Carolina ASCs.
It reads:
801. General (I) D. The Facility shall have a written transfer agreement with one (1) or more hospitals that provides reasonable assurance that transfer of patients will be made between the hospital and the facility. The transfer agreement shall be dated and signed by authorized officials who are a party to the agreement. The agreement shall be updated following a change of Administrator; the agreement shall be updated following changes in licensee or at any other time as deemed advisable to maintain or further improve continuity of care.
Exception: A facility which has attempted but has been unable to secure such an agreement shall maintain documentation of its efforts, and shall provide the local hospitals written notice of its hours of operation and patient population.
Every member is encouraged to follow this link to the proposed rule language in order to review the new requirements coming into effect later this year. The link takes you to the “redline” version where language that is being removed is struck through and language that is being added is underlined. |
