As used in this article:

(1) "Alternate physician supervisor" or "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.

(2) "Board" means the Board of Medical Examiners of South Carolina.

(3) "Committee" means the Physician Assistant Committee as established by this article as an advisory committee responsible to the board.

(4) "Immediate consultation" means a supervising physician must be available for direct communication by telephone or other means of telecommunication.

(5) "NCCPA" means the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants, Inc., the agency recognized to examine and evaluate the education of PAs, or its successor organization as recognized by the board.

(6) "Physician assistant" or "PA" means a health care professional licensed to assist in the practice of medicine with a physician supervisor.

(7) "Physician supervisor" or "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. The physician supervisor is the individual who is responsible for supervising a PA's activities.

(8) "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.

HISTORY: 2000 Act No. 359, Section 1; 2006 Act No. 244, Section 1; 2013 Act No. 28, Section 2, eff May 21, 2013; 2019 Act No. 32 (S.132), Section 2, eff August 11, 2019.

Effect of Amendment

The 2013 amendment added subsection (4), the definition of "Immediate consultation"; redesignated former subsections (4) through (7) as (5) through (8); in subsection (7), substituted "three full-time equivalent physician assistants" for "two physician assistants"; and in subsection (8), inserted "as part of a physician-led team".

2019 Act No. 32, Section 2, in (1), substituted "PA's" for "physician assistant's"; in (5), substituted "PAs" for "physician assistants"; in (6), inserted "or 'PA'"; in (7), in the first sentence, deleted "for no more than three full-time equivalent physician assistants" at the end, and in the second sentence, substituted "PA's" for "physician assistant's"; and in (8), substituted "PA" for "physician assistant".