South Carolina Code of Regulations › Chapter 61 - DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL › Subchapter 61-16 - Minimum Standards for Licensing Hospitals and Institutional General Infirmaries › Sec2 61-16.1300 - PERINATAL SERVICES › Section 61-16.1306 - Designation of Inpatient Perinatal Care Services

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 6, June 28, 2024
A. Basic Perinatal Center with Well Newborn Nursery (Level I). Level I hospitals shall provide services for normal uncomplicated pregnancies. Level I hospitals shall identify maternity patients requiring transfer to a facility providing the appropriate level of care for the fetus, consult with the RPC on such matters, and offer a basic level of newborn care to infants at low risk. Level I hospitals shall have personnel who provide care for physiologically stable infants born at or beyond 35 weeks of gestation and stabilize ill newborn infants born at less than 35 weeks of gestation until they can be transferred to a facility where the appropriate level of neonatal care is provided. Level I hospitals shall have personnel and equipment available to provide neonatal resuscitation at every delivery and to evaluate and provide routine postnatal care for healthy term newborn infants. Level I hospitals shall have the capability to begin an emergency cesarean delivery within an interval based on timing that best incorporates maternal and fetal risks and benefits. When it is anticipated or determined that these criteria will not be or have not been met, consultation and a plan of care shall be initiated and mutually agreed upon with the RPC and documented in the medical record, immediately after the patient is stabilized. Level I hospitals shall provide care of postpartum conditions and make provisions of accommodations and policies that allow families, including their other children, to be together in the hospital following birth. Appropriate anesthesia, radiology, and laboratory and blood bank services shall be available on a twenty-four (24) hour basis. Management shall include emergency resuscitation and/or stabilization for both maternal and neonatal patients in preparation for transfer/transport for more specialized services. Hospitals at this level shall not provide care or services which are designated only for higher level hospitals, except under unforeseen, emergent circumstances. In this situation, the Department shall be notified within 24 hours.
B. Specialty Perinatal Center with Special Care Nursery (Level II). In addition to complying with all requirements of Section 1306.A, Level II hospitals shall provide services for both normal and selected high-risk obstetrical and neonatal patients. Level II hospital care shall include management of neonates who are at least 32 weeks of gestation with an anticipated birth weight of at least 1500 grams and problems expected to resolve rapidly (neonates not in need of sub-specialty services on an urgent basis). Level II hospitals shall provide care for infants convalescing after intensive care. Level II hospital shall stabilize infants born before 32 weeks of gestation and weigh less than 1500 grams until transfer to a neonatal intensive care facility. Level II hospitals shall have experienced personnel capable of providing continuous positive pressure airway pressure or mechanical ventilation for a brief period (less than 24 hours) or both until the infant's condition improves or the infant can be transferred to a higher-level facility. Level II hospitals shall have equipment (e.g. portable x-ray equipment, blood gas laboratory) and personnel (e.g. physicians, specialized nurses, respiratory therapists, radiology technicians, and laboratory technicians) available at all times to provide ongoing care and address emergencies. Referral to a higher level of care should occur for all infants when needed, for medical or subspecialty intervention. Support personnel shall include respiratory therapists, radiology technicians, laboratory technicians, and a lactation consultant. A board-certified or board-eligible pediatrician shall be in the hospital or on site within 30 minutes, 24 hours a day. There shall be no limit on the duration of Nasopharyngeal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (NCPAP) or Nasal Prong Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (NPCPAP) when cared for by a neonatologist. The provision of CPAP or mechanical ventilation beyond the immediate stabilization period requires the immediate availability of respiratory therapists with neonatal training (including intubation of premature infants), nursing support with training to identify and respond to complications of ventilation, and the immediate availability of personnel and equipment to evacuate a pneumothorax. Level II hospitals with a board certified or board eligible neonatologist having responsibilities limited to a single center and in house or within 30 minutes of the unit at all times may provide care for patients requiring mechanical ventilation for up to 24 hours. For shared neonatology coverage, a certified Neonatal Nurse Practitioner having responsibilities limited to a single center and in house may provide coverage for that center. Neonates requiring the initiation of mechanical ventilator support beyond 24 hours of age shall be referred to the RPC. Neonates shall not require high-frequency ventilation support. These hospitals shall manage no less than an average of 500 deliveries annually, calculated over the previous three years based on the individual hospital statistics. This calculation shall include the number of maternal transfers made prior to delivery to higher level perinatal hospitals. A Level II hospital shall not admit outborn neonates into its nursery without prior concurrence with the RPC. Level II units shall not transport neonates between hospitals. Hospitals at this level shall not provide care or services which are designated only for higher level hospitals, except under unforeseen, emergent circumstances. In this situation, the Department shall be notified within 24 hours.
C. Subspecialty Perinatal Center with Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (Level III). In addition to complying with all requirements of Sections 1306.A through 1306.B, Level III hospitals shall provide all aspects of perinatal care, including intensive care and a range of continuously available subspecialty consultation as recommended in the most recent edition of the
Guidelines for Perinatal Care
(GPC) by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Level III hospitals shall provide care for mothers and infants at less than 32 weeks gestation, estimated fetal weight less than 1500 grams, and anticipated complex medical or surgical conditions for mother or infant that may require sub-specialty services. Level III hospitals shall also provide care for infants born at less than 32 weeks of gestation and weigh less than 1500 grams at birth or have actual or anticipated complex medical or surgical conditions regardless of gestational age. Level III hospital care shall include expertise in neonatology and maternal-fetal medicine. Level III neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) shall include continuously available personnel (neonatologists, neonatal nurses, and respiratory therapists) and equipment available to provide life support as long as needed. Level III facilities shall provide ongoing assisted ventilation for periods longer than 24 hours, which may include conventional ventilation, high- frequency ventilation, and inhaled nitric oxide. Level III hospitals shall provide services and care for women and fetuses at high risk, both admitted and transferred to the facility. Level III hospitals shall have advanced respiratory support and physiologic monitoring equipment, laboratory and imaging facilities, nutrition and pharmacy support with pediatric expertise, social services, and pastoral care. Pediatric ophthalmology services and an organized program for the monitoring, treatment, and follow-up of retinopathy of prematurity shall also be readily available in Level III hospitals. Level III hospitals shall have the capability to perform advanced imaging with interpretation on an urgent basis, including computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and echocardiography. Level III hospitals shall also have the capability to perform major surgery on site or at a closely related institution. A board-certified or board-eligible neonatologist shall be in the hospital or on site within 30 minutes, 24 hours a day. A board-certified maternal-fetal medicine specialist (perinatologist) shall be available for supervision and consultation, 24 hours a day. Perinatal consultation requirements may be met via telemedicine arrangements with a RPC. In addition to the Level II capabilities, Level III hospitals shall have the staffing and technical capability to manage high-risk obstetric and complex neonatal patients, including neonates requiring prolonged ventilatory support, surgical intervention, or 24-hour availability of multispecialty management. Hospitals with Level III designation shall manage no less than an average of 1500 deliveries annually, calculated over the previous three years, and at least an average of 100 neonate admissions who weigh less than 1500 grams each, require ventilatory support for over twenty-four (24) hours, or require surgery based on individual hospital statistics. This calculation shall include the number of maternal transfers made prior to delivery to higher level perinatal hospitals. The NICU budget shall include support for outcomes measurement, including data collection and membership in a multi-institutional collaborative quality improvement data base. Level III hospitals shall collect data to assess outcomes within their facility and to compare with other hospitals within their level. Hospitals at this level shall not provide additional care or services designated only for RPC's, or perform neonatal transport, except under unforeseen, emergent circumstances. In this situation, the Department shall be notified within 24 hours.
D. Regional Perinatal Center with Neonatal Intensive Care Units (Level III) (RPC). In addition to complying with all requirements of Sections 1306.A through 1306.C, the RPC shall provide consultative, outreach, and support services to Level I, II, and III hospitals in the region. The RPC shall manage no less than an average of 2000 deliveries annually, calculated over the previous three years. Personnel qualified to manage obstetric or neonatal emergencies shall be in-house. A board- certified maternal-fetal medicine specialist (perinatologist) shall be in the hospital or on site within 30 minutes for supervision and consultation, 24 hours a day. The RPC shall participate in residency programs for obstetrics, pediatrics, and/or family practice. Physician-to-physician consultation shall be available 24 hours a day for Level I, II, and III hospitals. Regional Perinatal Centers shall coordinate the development and implementation of professional continuing education to maintain competency and provide education to other facilities within the region, facilitate transport from the perinatal centers to the regional perinatal center and back transport when possible, and collect data on long-term outcomes to evaluate the effectiveness of delivery of perinatal care services and the efficacy of new therapies. The RPC shall provide a perinatal transport system that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and return transports neonates to lower level perinatal hospitals when the neonates' condition and care requirements are within the capability of those hospitals.
E. Complex Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (Level IV). In addition to complying with all requirements of Sections 1306.A through 1306.C, Level IV hospitals shall include additional capabilities and considerable experience in the care of the most complex and critically ill newborn infants and have pediatric medical and surgical specialty consultants available 24 hours a day. Level IV hospitals shall have capability to perform surgical repair of complex congenital or acquired conditions (e.g. Congenital malformations that require cardiopulmonary bypass with or without extracorporeal membrane oxygenation). Level IV hospitals shall maintain a full range of pediatric medical subspecialists, pediatric surgical subspecialists, and pediatric anesthesiologists at the facility. Not all Level IV hospitals need to act as regional centers. Regional organization of perinatal health care services requires that there be coordination in the development of specialized services, professional continuing education to maintain competency, facilitation of opportunities for transport and return transport, and collection of data on long-term outcomes to evaluate both the effectiveness of delivery of perinatal health care services and the safety and efficacy of new therapies. Level IV hospitals shall collect data to assess outcomes within their facility, and to compare with other hospitals within their level, if applicable.