South Carolina Telehealth Laws & Reimbursement Policies

South Carolina Medicaid reimburses for live video under certain circumstances. Store-and-forward is not reimbursed as it does not meet established conditions for the use of telemedicine. The South Carolina Medicaid reimburses for home health monitoring through the Home Aging Program for some conditions when a patient is eligible.

“Telemedicine is the use of medical information about a patient that is exchanged from one site to another via electronic communications to provide medical care to a patient in circumstances in which face-to-face contact is not necessary."

No reimbursement for email. No reimbursement for telephone. No reimbursement for FAX. No reimbursement for video cell phone interactions.

A patient’s written consent is required prior to the dissemination of any of their images or information to other entities.

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If a beneficiary is a minor child, a parent and/or guardian must present the child for telemedicine services unless otherwise exempted by State or Federal law. The parent and/or guardian need not attend the telemedicine session unless attendance is therapeutically appropriate.

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Telemedicine means the practice of medicine using electronic communications, information technology, or other means between a licensee in one location and a patient in another location with or without an intervening practitioner.

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A licensee shall not establish a physician-patient relationship by telemedicine for the purpose of prescribing medication when an in-person physical examination is necessary for diagnosis.
Schedule II and Schedule III prescriptions are not permitted except for those Schedule II and Schedule III medications specifically authorized by the board, which may include, but not be limited to, Schedule II-nonnarcotic and Schedule III-nonnarcotic medications.

The physician must be licensed in South Carolina; however, they do not need to reside in South Carolina.

Click for a list of telehealth specific professional board regulations.