(A) The department may establish a trauma data collection and evaluation system, known as the "Trauma Registry". The Trauma Registry must be designed to include, but must not be limited to, trauma studies, patient care and outcomes, compliance with standards of verification, and types and severity of injuries in the State.

(B) The department may collect, as considered necessary and appropriate, data and information regarding patients admitted to a facility through the emergency department, through a trauma center, or directly to a special care unit. Data and information must be collected in a manner that protects and maintains the confidential nature of patient and staff identifying information.

Terms Used In South Carolina Code 44-61-550

  • Department: means the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. See South Carolina Code 44-61-510
  • Discovery: Lawyers' examination, before trial, of facts and documents in possession of the opponents to help the lawyers prepare for trial.
  • 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.
  • Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
  • Trauma: means a major injury or wound to a living person caused by the application of an external force or by violence and the requiring immediate medical or surgical intervention to prevent death or permanent disability. See South Carolina Code 44-61-510
  • trauma center: means a hospital that has been designated by the department according to the rules and regulations set forth by the department to provide trauma care services at a particular level. See South Carolina Code 44-61-510
  • Verification: means the department's inspection of a participating facility in order to determine whether the facility is capable of providing a designated level of trauma care. See South Carolina Code 44-61-510

(C) Records and reports made pursuant to this section must be held confidential within the department and must not be available to the public, admissible as evidence, or subject to discovery by subpoena. Information that identifies individual patients must not be disclosed publicly without the patient’s consent.

(D) All data collection and data inquiry activity shall follow federally established Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act guidelines.

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