139A.19 - CARE PROVIDER NOTIFICATION. - Iowa Statutes

139A.19 CARE PROVIDER NOTIFICATION. 1. a. Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, if a care provider sustains an exposure from an individual while rendering health care services or other services, the individual to whom the care provider was exposed is deemed to consent to a test to determine if the individual has a contagious or infectious disease and is deemed to consent to notification of the care provider of the results of the test, upon submission of an exposure report by the care provider to the hospital or other person specified in this section to whom the individual is delivered by the care provider. The exposure report form may be incorporated into the Iowa prehospital care report, the Iowa prehospital advanced care report, or a similar report used by an ambulance, rescue, or first response service or law enforcement agency. b. The hospital or 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 and shall not otherwise identify the individual tested. 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. d. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a care provider may transmit cautions regarding contagious or infectious disease information in the course of the care provider's duties over the police radio broadcasting system under chapter 693 or any other radio-based communications system if the information transmitted does not personally identify an individual. 2. If the individual tested is diagnosed or confirmed as having a contagious or infectious disease, the hospital or other person conducting the test shall notify the care provider or the designated representative of the care provider who shall then notify the care provider. 3. The notification to the care provider shall advise the care provider of possible exposure to a particular contagious or infectious disease and recommend that the care provider seek medical attention. The notification shall be provided as soon as is reasonably possible following determination that the individual has a contagious or infectious disease. The notification shall not include the name of the individual tested for the contagious or infectious disease unless the individual consents. If the care provider who sustained an exposure determines the identity of the individual diagnosed or confirmed as having a contagious or infectious disease, 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 diagnosed with or confirmed as having a contagious or infectious disease. 4. This section does not require or permit, unless otherwise provided, a hospital, health care provider, or other person to administer a test for the express purpose of determining the presence of a contagious or infectious disease, except that testing may be performed if the individual consents and if the requirements of this section are satisfied. 5. This section does not preclude a hospital or a 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 a contagious or infectious disease that is not life-threatening if the notice does not reveal a patient's name, unless the patient consents. 6. A hospital, health care provider, or other person participating in good faith in complying with provisions authorized or required under this section is immune from any liability, civil or criminal, which might otherwise be incurred or imposed. 7. A hospital's or health care provider's duty of notification under this section is not continuing but is limited to a diagnosis of a contagious or infectious disease made in the course of admission, care, and treatment following the rendering of health care services or other services to which notification under this section applies. 8. A hospital, health care provider, or other person who is authorized to perform a test under this section who performs the test in compliance with this section or who fails to perform the test authorized under this section, is immune from any liability, civil or criminal, which might otherwise be incurred or imposed. 9. A hospital, health care provider, or other person who is authorized to perform a test under this section has no duty to perform the test authorized. 10. The department shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to administer this section. The department may determine by rule the contagious or infectious diseases for which testing is reasonable and appropriate and which may be administered under this section. 11. The employer of a care provider who sustained an exposure under this section shall pay the costs of testing for the individual who is the source of the exposure and of the testing of the care provider, if the exposure was sustained during the course of employment. However, the department shall pay the costs of testing for the individual who is the source of the significant exposure and of the testing of the care provider who renders direct aid without compensation.          Section History: Recent Form 2000 Acts, ch 1066, §19; 2001 Acts, ch 157, §4 Care provider notification of HIV infections, see § 141A.8