Terms Used In South Carolina Code > Title 33 > Chapter 38 > Article 1 - Preliminary Provisions

• Active license: means the status of an authorization to practice that has been renewed for the current period and authorizes the licensee to practice in this State. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Administrative hearing officer: means a physician designated by the board or director. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Administrator: means the individual to whom the director has delegated authority to administer the programs of a specific board or of a professional or occupational group for which the department has regulatory authority or has delegated authority to administer the programs of a specific board;
  
  (2) "Authorization to practice" or "Practice authorization" means the approval to practice the specified profession, engage in the specified occupation, or use a title protected under this article, which has been granted by the applicable board. See South Carolina Code 40-1-20
• Adverse disciplinary action: means a final decision by a United States or foreign licensing jurisdiction, a peer review group, a health care institution, a professional or medical society or association, or a court, which action was not resolved completely in the licensee's favor. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Advice and consent: Under the Constitution, presidential nominations for executive and judicial posts take effect only when confirmed by the Senate, and international treaties become effective only when the Senate approves them by a two-thirds vote.
• Allegation: something that someone says happened.
• alternate supervising physician: means a South Carolina licensed physician currently possessing an active, unrestricted permanent license to practice medicine in South Carolina who accepts the responsibility to supervise a PA's activities in the absence of the supervising physician and this physician is approved by the physician supervisor in writing in the scope of practice guidelines. See South Carolina Code 40-47-910
• Amendment: A proposal to alter the text of a pending bill or other measure by striking out some of it, by inserting new language, or both. Before an amendment becomes part of the measure, thelegislature must agree to it.
• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appeal: A request made after a trial, asking another court (usually the court of appeals) to decide whether the trial was conducted properly. To make such a request is "to appeal" or "to take an appeal." One who appeals is called the appellant.
• Approved written scope of practice guidelines: means specific statements developed by a physician or the medical staff and a physician assistant that establish physician delegation for medical aspects of care, including the prescription of medications. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Arrest: Taking physical custody of a person by lawful authority.
• Board: means the State Board of Medical Examiners for South Carolina. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Board: means the Board of Medical Examiners of South Carolina. See South Carolina Code 40-47-510
• Board: means the Board of Medical Examiners of South Carolina. See South Carolina Code 40-47-910
• Board-approved credentialing organization: means an organization that offers a certification examination in a specialty area of practice, establishes scope and standards of practice statements, and provides a mechanism approved by the board for evaluating continuing competency in a specialized area of practice. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Business days: means every day except Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Cancellation: means the withdrawal or invalidation of an authorization to practice that was issued to an ineligible person either in error or based upon a false, fraudulent, or deceptive representation in the application process. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Certification: means approval by an established body, other than the board, but recognized by the board, that recognizes the unique, minimal requirements of specialized areas of practice. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• CMA: means a person who is a graduate of a post-secondary medical assisting education program accredited by the National Healthcare Association, or its successor; by the Committee on Allied Health Education and Accreditation of the American Medical Association, or its successor; by the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools, or its successor; or by any accrediting agency recognized by the United States Department of Education. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Committee: means the Respiratory Care Committee which is established by this article as an advisory committee responsible to the board. See South Carolina Code 40-47-510
• Committee: means the Physician Assistant Committee as established by this article as an advisory committee responsible to the board. See South Carolina Code 40-47-910
• Complaint: A written statement by the plaintiff stating the wrongs allegedly committed by the defendant.
• Continuance: Putting off of a hearing ot trial until a later time.
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Conviction: A judgement of guilt against a criminal defendant.
• Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
• Court reporter: A person who makes a word-for-word record of what is said in court and produces a transcript of the proceedings upon request.
• Criminal history: means a federal, state, or local criminal history of conviction or a pending charge or indictment of a crime, whether a misdemeanor or a felony, that bears upon a person's fitness or suitability for an authorization to practice with responsibility for the safety and well-being of others. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
• Delegated medical acts: means additional acts delegated by a physician or dentist to a physician assistant, respiratory care practitioner, anesthesiologist's assistant, or other practitioner authorized by law under approved written scope of practice guidelines or approved written protocols as provided by law in accordance with the applicable scope of professional practice. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Dentist: means a dentist licensed by the South Carolina Board of Dentistry. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Department: means the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation;
  
  (5) "Director" means the Director of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation or the director's official designee;
  
  (6) "Licensee" means a person granted an authorization to practice pursuant to this article and refers to a person holding a license, permit, certification, or registration granted pursuant to this article;
  
  (7) "Licensing act" means the individual statute or regulations, or both, of each regulated profession or occupation which include, but are not limited to, board governance, the qualifications and requirements for authorization to practice, prohibitions, and disciplinary procedures;
  
  (8) "Person" means an individual, partnership, or corporation;
  
  (9) "Profession" or "occupation" means a profession or occupation regulated or administered, or both, by the department pursuant to this article. See South Carolina Code 40-1-20
• Deposition: An oral statement made before an officer authorized by law to administer oaths. Such statements are often taken to examine potential witnesses, to obtain discovery, or to be used later in trial.
• Disciplinary action: means a final decision and sanction imposed at the conclusion of a disciplinary proceeding. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
• Dismissal: The dropping of a case by the judge without further consideration or hearing. ^Source:
• Entity: means a sole proprietorship, partnership, limited liability partnership, limited liability corporation, association, joint venture, cooperative, company, corporation, or other public or private legal entity authorized by law. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Final decision: means an order of the board that concludes a license application proceeding or formal disciplinary proceeding. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Formal complaint: means a formal written complaint charging misconduct by a respondent in violation of this chapter, Chapter 1 of Title 40, or any other provision of law. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Fraud: Intentional deception resulting in injury to another.
• Freedom of Information Act: A federal law that mandates that all the records created and kept by federal agencies in the executive branch of government must be open for public inspection and copying. The only exceptions are those records that fall into one of nine exempted categories listed in the statute. ^{Source: OCC}
• Inactive license: means the official temporary retirement of a person's authorization to practice upon the person's notice to the board that the person does not wish to practice. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Incompetence: means the failure of a licensee to demonstrate and apply the knowledge, skill, and care that is ordinarily possessed and exercised by other practitioners of the same licensure status and required by the generally accepted standards of the profession. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Independent credentials verification organization: means an entity approved by the board to provide primary source verification of an applicant's identity, medical education, postgraduate training, examination history, disciplinary history, and other core information required for licensure in this State. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Indictment: The formal charge issued by a grand jury stating that there is enough evidence that the defendant committed the crime to justify having a trial; it is used primarily for felonies.
• Initial complaint: means a brief statement that alleges misconduct on the part of a licensee. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Initial licensure: means the first authorization to practice issued to a person by a licensing authority in this State or any other state. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Letter of caution or concern: means a written caution or warning about past or future conduct issued when it is determined that no misconduct has been committed. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• License: means a current document authorizing a person to practice. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Licensed in good standing: means that one's authorization to practice has not been revoked and there are no restrictions or limitations currently in effect. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Limited license: means a current time-limited and practice-limited document that authorizes practice at the level for which one is seeking licensure. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Medical director: means a physician licensed to practice medicine in South Carolina who has special interest and knowledge in the diagnosis, treatment, and assessment of respiratory problems. See South Carolina Code 40-47-510
• Medical staff: means licensed physicians who are approved and credentialed to provide health care to patients in a hospital system or a facility that provides health care. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Misconduct: means violation of any of the provisions of this chapter or regulations promulgated by the board pursuant to this chapter or violation of any of the principles of ethics as adopted by the board or incompetence or unprofessional conduct. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• NCCPA: means the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants, Inc. See South Carolina Code 40-47-910
• Nolo contendere: No contest-has the same effect as a plea of guilty, as far as the criminal sentence is concerned, but may not be considered as an admission of guilt for any other purpose.
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Oral argument: An opportunity for lawyers to summarize their position before the court and also to answer the judges' questions.
• Osteopathic medicine: means a complete school of medicine and surgery utilizing all methods of diagnosis and treatment in health and disease and placing special emphasis on the interrelationship of the musculo-skeletal system to all other body systems. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
• Person: means a natural person, male or female. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Physician: means a doctor of medicine or doctor of osteopathic medicine licensed by the South Carolina Board of Medical Examiners. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Practice agreement: means a written agreement developed by an NP, CNM, or CNS and a physician or medical staff who agrees to work with and to support the NP, CNM, or CNS. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• 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 is the practice of medicine subject to all of the powers provided to the Board of Medical Examiners, except as provided in § 38-59-25;
  
  (g) using the designation Doctor, Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, Physician, Surgeon, Physician and Surgeon, Dr. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Practitioner: means a person who has been issued an authorization to practice in this State. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Presiding officer: A majority-party Senator who presides over the Senate and is charged with maintaining order and decorum, recognizing Members to speak, and interpreting the Senate's rules, practices and precedents.
• Presiding officer: means the chairman of the hearing panel or a designee. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Private reprimand: means a statement by the board that misconduct was committed by a person authorized to practice which has been declared confidential and which is not subject to disclosure as a public document. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Probable cause: A reasonable ground for belief that the offender violated a specific law.
• Probation: A sentencing alternative to imprisonment in which the court releases convicted defendants under supervision as long as certain conditions are observed.
• Probation: means the issuance of an authorization to practice conditioned upon compliance with terms and conditions imposed by a licensing board in this State or another state. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Public reprimand: means a publicly available statement of the board that misconduct was committed by a person authorized to practice. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Quorum: The number of legislators that must be present to do business.
• Reactivation: means the restoration to active status of an authorization from inactive status. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Reinstatement: means an action of the board in a disciplinary matter that authorizes the resumption of practice upon any terms or conditions ordered or agreed to by the board. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Relinquish: means to permanently cancel or invalidate an authorization instead of disciplinary proceedings or final decision by the board. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Remainder: An interest in property that takes effect in the future at a specified time or after the occurrence of some event, such as the death of a life tenant.
• Reporter: Makes a record of court proceedings and prepares a transcript, and also publishes the court's opinions or decisions (in the courts of appeals).
• Respiratory care or respiratory therapy: means the allied health profession or specialty which provides educational, therapeutic, or diagnostic procedures utilized in the prevention, detection, and management of deficiencies or abnormalities, or both, of the cardiopulmonary systems. See South Carolina Code 40-47-510
• Respiratory care practitioner: means a respiratory therapist or a respiratory therapy technician licensed to practice respiratory therapy who is a graduate of a school for respiratory therapy approved by the American Medical Association or a successor accrediting authority recognized as such by the board. See South Carolina Code 40-47-510
• Respondent: means a person charged with responding in a disciplinary or other administrative action. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Revocation: means the permanent cancellation or withdrawal of an authorization issued by the board. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Significant disciplinary action: means a public decision in a disciplinary matter that involves substantial issues of professional or ethical competence or qualification to practice. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• State identification bureau: means an authorized governmental agency responsible for receiving and screening the results of criminal history records checks in this State or another state. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Statute: A law passed by a legislature.
• Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
• Supervising: means overseeing the activities of, and accepting responsibility for, the medical services rendered by a PA as part of a physician-led team in a manner approved by the board. See South Carolina Code 40-47-910
• supervising physician: means a South Carolina licensed physician currently possessing an active, unrestricted permanent license to practice medicine in South Carolina who is approved to serve as a supervising physician. See South Carolina Code 40-47-910
• Supervision: means the process of critically observing, directing, and evaluating another person's performance, unless otherwise provided by law. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Suspension: means the temporary withdrawal of authorization to practice for either a definite or indefinite period of time ordered by the board. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Telemedicine: means the practice of medicine using electronic communications, information technology, or other means between a licensee in one location and a patient in another location with or without an intervening practitioner. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Temporary license: means a current, time-limited document that authorizes practice at the level for which one is seeking licensure. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Testify: Answer questions in court.
• Testimony: Evidence presented orally by witnesses during trials or before grand juries.
• Transcript: A written, word-for-word record of what was said, either in a proceeding such as a trial or during some other conversation, as in a transcript of a hearing or oral deposition.
• UAP: means persons not currently licensed by the Board of Nursing as nurses, or persons who are not certified medical assistants as defined in § 40-47-20(57), who perform routine nursing tasks that do not require a specialized knowledge base or the judgment or skill of a licensed nurse. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Unprofessional conduct: means acts or behavior that fail to meet the minimally acceptable standard expected of similarly situated professionals including, but not limited to, conduct that may be harmful to the health, safety, and welfare of the public, conduct that may reflect negatively on one's fitness to practice, or conduct that may violate any provision of the code of ethics adopted by the board or a specialty. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Voluntary surrender: means forgoing the authorization to practice by the subject of an initial or formal complaint pending further order of the board. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20
• Volunteer license: means authorization of a retired practitioner to provide medical services to others through an identified charitable organization without remuneration. See South Carolina Code 40-47-20