141A.8 - CARE PROVIDER NOTIFICATION.
141A.8 CARE PROVIDER NOTIFICATION.
1. a. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the
contrary, if a care provider sustains a significant exposure from an
individual, the individual to whom the care provider was exposed is
deemed to consent to a test to determine the presence of HIV
infection in that individual and is deemed to consent to notification
of the care provider of the HIV test results of the individual, upon
submission of a significant exposure report by the care provider as
provided by rule.
b. The hospital or clinic in which the exposure occurred or
any other person specified in this section to whom the individual is
delivered shall conduct the test. If the individual is delivered by
the care provider to an institution administered by the Iowa
department of corrections, the test shall be conducted by the staff
physician of the institution. If the individual is delivered by the
care provider to a jail, the test shall be conducted by the attending
physician of the jail or the county medical examiner. The sample and
test results shall only be identified by a number.
c. A hospital, institutions administered by the department of
corrections, and jails shall have written policies and procedures for
notification of a care provider under this section. The policies and
procedures shall include designation of a representative of the care
provider to whom notification shall be provided and who shall, in
turn, notify the care provider. The identity of the designated
representative of the care provider shall not be revealed to the
individual tested. The designated representative shall inform the
hospital, institution administered by the department of corrections,
or jail of those parties who received the notification, and following
receipt of this information and upon request of the individual
tested, the hospital, institution administered by the department of
corrections, or jail shall inform the individual of the parties to
whom notification was provided.
2. a. If the test results are positive, the hospital or other
person performing the test shall notify the subject of the test and
ensure the performance of counseling and reporting requirements of
this chapter in the same manner as for an individual from whom actual
consent was obtained. The report to the department required pursuant
to section 141A.6 shall include the name of the individual tested.
b. If the HIV test results of the subject of the test are
positive, the hospital or other person performing the test shall
notify the care provider or the designated representative of the care
provider who shall then notify the care provider who sustained the
exposure.
c. The notification shall be provided as soon as is
reasonably possible following determination that the HIV test results
of the subject of the test are positive. The notification shall not
include the name of the individual tested for HIV infection unless
the individual provides a specific written release. If the care
provider who sustained the significant exposure determines the
identity of the individual tested, the identity of the individual
shall be confidential information and shall not be disclosed by the
care provider to any other person unless a specific written release
is obtained from the individual tested.
3. This section does not preclude a hospital or health care
provider from providing notification to a care provider under
circumstances in which the hospital's or health care provider's
policy provides for notification of the hospital's or health care
provider's own employees of exposure to HIV infection if the notice
does not reveal a patient's name, unless the patient consents.
4. A hospital, health care provider, or other person
participating in good faith in making a report under the notification
provisions of this section, under procedures similar to this section
for notification of its own employees upon filing of a significant
exposure report, or in failing to make a report under this section,
is immune from any liability, civil or criminal, which might
otherwise be incurred or imposed.
5. A hospital's or health care provider's duty to notify under
this section is not continuing but is limited to the diagnosis of HIV
infection made in the course of admission, care, and treatment
following the rendering of health care services or other services to
the individual with the infection to which notification under this
section applies.
6. Notwithstanding subsection 5, if, following discharge from or
completion of care or treatment by a hospital, an individual for whom
a significant exposure report was submitted but which report did not
result in notification, wishes to provide information regarding the
individual's HIV infection status to the care provider who submitted
the report, the hospital shall provide a procedure for notifying the
care provider.
7. A hospital, health care provider, or other person who is
authorized to perform an HIV test under this section, who performs
the HIV test in compliance with this section or who fails to perform
an HIV test authorized under this section, is immune from any
liability, civil or criminal, which might otherwise be incurred or
imposed.
8. A hospital, health care provider, or other person who is
authorized to perform a test under this section has no duty to
perform the HIV test authorized.
9. The employer of a care provider who sustained a significant
exposure under this section shall pay the costs of HIV testing for
the individual who is the source of the significant exposure and of
the testing and counseling of the care provider, if the significant
exposure was sustained during the course of employment. However, the
department shall assist an individual who is the source of the
significant exposure in finding resources to pay for the cost of the
HIV test, and shall assist a care provider who renders direct aid
without compensation in finding resources to pay for the cost of the
testing and counseling. Section History: Recent Form
99 Acts, ch 181, §12; 2000 Acts, ch 1140, §27--29; 2000 Acts, ch
1154, §13; 2001 Acts, ch 157, §7; 2007 Acts, ch 70, §9