Section 693.45  Notification of Health Care Contacts

a)         The Department shall develop a form letter, which shall be used by the Department to notify health care contacts pursuant to Sections 693.40 of this Part, and which shall be offered to individuals choosing to self-notify their health care contacts.  The letter shall include a list of facilities where HIV counseling and testing is available, a copy of Public Act 87-763, information about HIV transmission and the HIV antibody test, and shall recommend that the recipient contact his or her personal physician or one of the counseling and testing facilities listed;

1)         For contacts who are patients, the letter shall identify the type of health care provider with whom the recipient had contact, without naming the specific health care provider;

2)         For contacts who are health care providers, the letter shall 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 AIDS, without naming the patient;

3)         The letter shall also advise the recipient as to applicable confidentiality requirements;

b)         Notification by the Department shall be made by first-class mail, with the envelope marked "confidential".  Case subjects or their representatives choosing to self-notify shall 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 his or her representative shall submit a written, signed statement to the local health authority 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 individual was advised by the Department or the Local Health Authority that notification was necessary.

(Source:  Added at 16 Ill. Reg. 5921, effective March 30, 1992)