Must someone be on site while a patient is treated in South Carolina?
Oversight · part of The Practice Perimeter
Short answer
Only for delegated tasks — a certified medical assistant may perform one only while the delegating physician, PA, or APRN is close enough to be immediately available, which for unlicensed staff means within the office. No broader on-site rule is stated.
A physician, physician assistant, or advanced practice registered nurse may delegate specified tasks to a certified medical assistant only if the task is delegated directly and not through another licensed practitioner, the task is performed when the delegating practitioner is in such close proximity as to be immediately available to the CMA if needed, and the delegating practitioner determines that the task is within the training and competency of the CMA and will not pose a significant risk to the patient if improperly performed.
S.C. Code §40-47-196(B)(1)–(3) · verified Sep 8, 2026 · regulatory monitoring, not legal advice
Related South Carolina rules
Delegated medical acts are 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, and must be performed under the supervision of a physician or dentist who must be readily or immediately available for consultation; and immediately available, for the purpose of supervising unlicensed personnel, means being located within the office and ready for immediate utilization when needed.
S.C. Code §40-47-20(12), (18) · verified Sep 8, 2026
Misconduct that constitutes grounds for disciplinary action is a showing to the board by the preponderance of evidence that a licensee has knowingly performed an act that in any way assists an unlicensed person to practice.
S.C. Code §40-47-110(B)(7) · verified Sep 3, 2026
How other states answer this
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arkansas
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Maryland
- Michigan
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nevada
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Virginia
- Washington
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← All South Carolina rules and changes · MedSpaRadar is regulatory monitoring and reference: it summarizes public laws, regulations and agency actions and links each to its source. It is not legal, medical, or compliance advice, and using it creates no attorney-client relationship. A summary can lag its source or leave out detail, and monitoring itself can be interrupted — so an absence of alerts means nothing reached you, not that nothing happened. Read the cited source, check its effective date, and confirm any change to your operations or clinical practice with qualified health-law counsel and your medical director. Legislative data via LegiScan (CC BY 4.0).