Section 693.45 Notification of Health Care Contacts

Section 693

Section 693.45  Notification

of Health Care Contacts

a)         The Department will develop a form letter, which the

Department will use to notify health care contacts pursuant to Section 693.40

of this Part and that will be offered to individuals choosing to self-notify

their health care contacts.  The letter will include a list of facilities where

HIV counseling and testing are available and information about HIV transmission

and laboratory tests, and will recommend that the recipient contact the

recipient's personal physician or one of the counseling and testing facilities

listed.

1)         For contacts who are patients, the letter will identify the

type of health care professional with whom the recipient had contact, without

naming the specific health care professional.

2)         For contacts who are health care professionals, the letter will

state that the recipient is believed to have performed an invasive procedure on

a patient who has been reported to the Department as a case with HIV, without

naming the patient.

3)         The letter will also advise the recipient as to applicable

confidentiality requirements.

b)         The Department will provide notification by first-class mail,

with the envelope marked "confidential".  Case subjects or their

representatives choosing to self-notify will be encouraged to utilize the same

method and may use the Department's return address instead of their own.

c)         Within 10 days after completing self-notification, the case

subject or the representative shall submit a written, signed statement to the

local health department or the Department, whichever is applicable, describing

the dates and methods of notification and the number of contacts notified, and

including a copy of the notification letter, if different from the

Department-generated form. Self-notification shall be completed within 45 days

after the date on which the Department or the local health department advised

the individual that notification was necessary.