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