Laws, Recommendations and Guidelines
Immunization Requirements
Laws Related To School Nursing Practice
- Section 59-63-80 (IHPs & Student Self-Medication) (Title 59 > Chapter 63 > Section 59-63-80)
Latest updates: Hurricane Helene
Our public health departments' hours of operation may be affected by power and staffing outages. This means that some closures may not appear on the state government office delays and closings map. The health and safety of our employees and our clients remains our highest priority. We are working to get services restored as safely and quickly as possible.
Learn more about DPH's role with hurricanes, floods, and weather emergencies.
1. The Community Guide Branch, Epidemiology Analysis Program Office (EAPO), Office of Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services (OSELS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Community Guide and the Clinical Guide provide evidence-based recommendations and findings about what works to improve public health. Please access the following links:
In South Carolina, Syndromic Surveillance Reporting is used to monitor chief complaint data to help identify events of public health concern, including COVID-19.
The Meaningful Use program offers a Syndromic Surveillance Reporting measure under the Public Health Reporting objective. The information must be sent in standardized formats that have been developed for sending health-related information between health care information systems. Data submission and analysis is coordinated at the state health department (DPH).
South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDPH) declares readiness for the Immunization Registry Measure 1 of Objective 8 for Stage 3 of Meaningful Use upon the deployment of the new Immunization Information System (IIS), which will be known as Statewide Immunization Online Network (SIMON). Deployment is tentatively scheduled for September 14, 2020. If the deployment date changes, this statement will be updated to reflect such change.
The electronic reporting of laboratory results fulfills South Carolina's notifiable disease reporting requirements. Meaningful Use requirements do not preempt applicable state or local laws that govern reporting of notifiable conditions.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) grants an incentive payment to eligible health care professionals, eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals that can demonstrate efforts to adopt, implement or upgrade certified electronic health record technology. These incentives were established under the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH).
To qualify for the EHR incentive payments, hospitals and eligible providers are required to meet at least one of these four public health-related objectives during Stage 1:
Hospital Infections Disclosure Act (HIDA)
In May 2006, the South Carolina General Assembly passed the Hospital Infections Disclosure Act. Hospitals must report Hospital Acquired Infections (HAIs) from selected procedures to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC). The reporting requirements are being phased in.
Compliance with the HIDA Reporting Requirements is a condition of licensure for hospitals that perform the reportable procedures.
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