Code of Massachusetts Regulations › 105 CMR - DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH › Title 105 CMR 172.000 - Reporting of Unprotected Exposures to Infectious Diseases Dangerous to the Public Health › Section 172.003 - Notice to Care Providers Who Have Sustained an Exposure to an Infectious Disease Dangerous to the Public Health

Current through Register 1525, July 5, 2024
(A) Any health
			 care facility which diagnoses a patient as having a bloodborne infectious
			 disease dangerous to the public health, as defined in
			 105 CMR 172.001,
			 shall notify orally, and in writing, the designated infection control officer
			 for the care provider(s) submitting the Unprotected Exposure Form who has
			 sustained an unprotected exposure that in the opinion of the health care
			 facility is capable of transmitting such disease. Oral notification shall occur
			 within 48 hours of diagnosis. Written notice of such exposure shall occur
			 within 72 hours of diagnosis. Upon notification, the designated infection
			 control officer shall notify the exposed care provider.
(B) Any health care facility which diagnoses
			 a patient as having an airborne or uncommon, rare or pandemic infectious
			 diseases dangerous to the public health, as defined in
			 105 CMR 172.001,
			 shall notify the designated infection control officer for the care providers
			 who transported the patient as soon as practicable, but not later than 48 hours
			 after diagnosis. Upon notification, the designated infection control officer
			 shall notify the exposed care provider.
(C) The notice shall include, but need not be
			 limited to: the appropriate precautions and actions that should be taken by the
			 care provider who has sustained the exposure to an infectious disease dangerous
			 to the public health, the identity of the disease to which the individual has
			 been exposed, instructions to the care provider to contact his/her personal
			 physician for medical follow-up, and information regarding immediate
			 precautions necessary to prevent transmission of the disease to others. The
			 notice shall clearly indicate that such exposure does not constitute a
			 diagnosis of an infectious disease dangerous to the public health.
(D) Notice to the care provider(s) who has
			 sustained an exposure to an infectious disease dangerous to the public health
			 shall be made in a manner so as to assure that such notice is conveyed by the
			 health care facility only to the designated infection control officer for the
			 individual(s). Delivery of the written notice by common carrier such as first
			 class mail to the designated infection control officer shall satisfy these
			 terms. Upon notification, the designated infection control officer shall notify
			 the exposed care provider.
(E) The
			 identity of the patient diagnosed as having an infectious disease dangerous to
			 the public health as defined in
			 105 CMR 172.001 shall
			 not be released either orally or in writing by the health care facility to the
			 designated infection control officer for the care provider or to the care
			 provider who has sustained the exposure and the patient's name shall be kept
			 confidential in accordance with M.G.L. c. 111, § 70.
(F) The health care facility shall notify
			 only those designated infection control officers for the care provider(s) who
			 has sustained an exposure to an infectious disease dangerous to the public
			 health that, in the opinion of the facility, is capable of transmitting the
			 disease.