141A.9 - CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION.

        141A.9  CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION.
         1.  Any information, including reports and records, obtained,
      submitted, and maintained pursuant to this chapter is strictly
      confidential medical information.  The information shall not be
      released, shared with an agency or institution, or made public upon
      subpoena, search warrant, discovery proceedings, or by any other
      means except as provided in this chapter.  A person shall not be
      compelled to disclose the identity of any person upon whom an
      HIV-related test is performed, or the results of the test in a manner
      which permits identification of the subject of the test, except to
      persons entitled to that information under this chapter.
         2.  HIV-related test results shall be made available for release
      to the following individuals or under the following circumstances:
         a.  To the subject of the test or the subject's legal guardian
      subject to the provisions of section 141A.7, subsection 3, when
      applicable.
         b.  To any person who secures a written release of test
      results executed by the subject of the test or the subject's legal
      guardian.
         c.  To an authorized agent or employee of a health facility or
      health care provider, if the health facility or health care provider
      ordered or participated in the testing or is otherwise authorized to
      obtain the test results, the agent or employee provides patient care
      or handles or processes samples, and the agent or employee has a
      medical need to know such information.
         d.  To a health care provider providing care to the subject of
      the test when knowledge of the test results is necessary to provide
      care or treatment.
         e.  To the department in accordance with reporting
      requirements for an HIV-related condition.
         f.  To a health facility or health care provider which
      procures, processes, distributes, or uses a human body part from a
      deceased person with respect to medical information regarding that
      person, or semen provided prior to July 1, 1988, for the purpose of
      artificial insemination.
         g.  To a person allowed access to an HIV-related test result
      by a court order which is issued in compliance with the following
      provisions:
         (1)  A court has found that the person seeking the test results
      has demonstrated a compelling need for the test results which need
      cannot be accommodated by other means.  In assessing compelling need,
      the court shall weigh the need for disclosure against the privacy
      interest of the test subject and the public interest which may be
      disserved by disclosure due to its deterrent effect on future testing
      or due to its effect in leading to discrimination.
         (2)  Pleadings pertaining to disclosure of test results shall
      substitute a pseudonym for the true name of the subject of the test.
      The disclosure to the parties of the subject's true name shall be
      communicated confidentially in documents not filed with the court.
         (3)  Before granting an order, the court shall provide the person
      whose test results are in question with notice and a reasonable
      opportunity to participate in the proceedings if the person is not
      already a party.
         (4)  Court proceedings as to disclosure of test results shall be
      conducted in camera unless the subject of the test agrees to a
      hearing in open court or unless the court determines that a public
      hearing is necessary to the public interest and the proper
      administration of justice.
         (5)  Upon the issuance of an order to disclose test results, the
      court shall impose appropriate safeguards against unauthorized
      disclosure, which shall specify the persons who may gain access to
      the information, the purposes for which the information shall be
      used, and appropriate prohibitions on future disclosure.
         h.  To an employer, if the test is authorized to be required
      under any other provision of law.
         i.  Pursuant to section 915.43, to a convicted or alleged
      sexual assault offender; the physician or other health care provider
      who orders the test of a convicted or alleged offender; the victim;
      the parent, guardian, or custodian of the victim if the victim is a
      minor; the physician of the victim if requested by the victim; the
      victim counselor or person requested by the victim to provide
      counseling regarding the HIV-related test and results; the victim's
      spouse; persons with whom the victim has engaged in vaginal, anal, or
      oral intercourse subsequent to the sexual assault; members of the
      victim's family within the third degree of consanguinity; and the
      county attorney who may use the results as evidence in the
      prosecution of sexual assault under chapter 915, subchapter IV, or
      prosecution of the offense of criminal transmission of HIV under
      chapter 709C.  For the purposes of this paragraph, "victim" means
      victim as defined in section 915.40.
         j.  To employees of state correctional institutions subject to
      the jurisdiction of the department of corrections, employees of
      secure facilities for juveniles subject to the department of human
      services, and employees of city and county jails, if the employees
      have direct supervision over inmates of those facilities or
      institutions in the exercise of the duties prescribed pursuant to
      section 80.9B.
         3.  Release may be made of medical or epidemiological information
      for statistical purposes in a manner such that no individual person
      can be identified.
         4.  Release may be made of medical or epidemiological information
      to the extent necessary to enforce the provisions of this chapter and
      related rules concerning the treatment, control, and investigation of
      HIV infection by public health officials.
         5.  Release may be made of medical or epidemiological information
      to medical personnel to the extent necessary to protect the health or
      life of the named party.
         6.  Release may be made of test results concerning a patient
      pursuant to procedures established under section 141A.5, subsection
      2, paragraph "c".
         7.  Medical information secured pursuant to subsection 1 may be
      shared between employees of the department who shall use the
      information collected only for the purposes of carrying out their
      official duties in preventing the spread of the disease or the spread
      of other reportable diseases as defined in section 139A.2.  
         Section History: Recent Form
         99 Acts, ch 181, §13; 2000 Acts, ch 1066, §40; 2007 Acts, ch 70,
      §10; 2008 Acts, ch 1031, §103; 2008 Acts, ch 1032, §25
         Referred to in §139A.22, 505.16, 915.43