West Virginia Code of State Rules › Agency 64 - Health › Title 64 - LEGISLATIVE RULE WEST VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN RESOURCES › Series 64-64 - Aids-Related Medical Testing and Confidentiality › Section 64-64-4 - Testing

Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 28, July 12, 2024
4.1. Consent.
4.1.a. All health-care providers shall
				recommend HIV-related testing as part of a routine screening for treatable
				conditions and as a part of routine prenatal and perinatal care. The
				HIV-related testing provided for in
W. Va. Code
§§
				16-3C-2(a) through (d) may also be requested by a health care provider acting
				within the scope of his or her professional license.
4.1.b. The provisions of
W. Va.
				Code
§§ 16-3C-2(b) through (d) shall also be followed when a
				patient, without a request from a physician, dentist, other health care
				provider acting within the scope of his or her professional practice, or the
				Bureau, voluntarily seeks an HIV test from any physician, dentist, other health
				care provider, or from the Bureau.
4.1.b.1.
				Patients shall be informed either orally or in writing that HIV-related testing
				is performed as a part of routine care, that HIV-related testing is voluntary
				and that the patient may decline HIV-related testing (opt-out); or
4.1.b.2. Patients shall be informed that his
				or her general consent for medical care includes consent for HIV-related
				testing.
4.1.c. Nothing
				in this rule shall be construed to provide grounds for any physician, dentist,
				other health care provider or the Commissioner to refuse to treat a patient,
				nor shall the testing provisions of this rule be used by health care providers
				to screen patients.
4.1.d. HIV
				screening for pregnant women and their infants.
4.1.d.1. Health care providers shall notify a
				pregnant patient that HIV screening is recommended and that she will be tested
				for HIV as part of the routine panel of prenatal tests, unless she declines
				through the mechanism of opting out.
4.1.d.2. HIV testing of pregnant women should
				be voluntary and free from coercion. No woman shall be tested without her
				knowledge, unless in accordance with subdivision 4.2.C. of this
				section.
4.1.d.3. Pregnant women
				shall receive oral or written information that includes an explanation of HIV
				infection, a description of interventions that can reduce HIV transmission from
				mother to infant, and the meanings of positive and negative test results and
				she shall be offered an opportunity to ask questions and to decline
				testing.
4.1.d.4. It is recommended
				that health care providers test women as early as possible during each
				pregnancy. Women who decline the test early in prenatal care may be encouraged
				to be tested at subsequent visits.
4.1.d.5. A second HIV test during the third
				trimester, preferably prior to the 36th week of
				gestation, is cost-effective even in areas of low HIV prevalence and may be
				considered for all pregnant women. A second HIV test during the third trimester
				is also recommended for women who meet one or more of the following criteria:
4.1.d.5.A. The woman received health care in
				facilities in which prenatal screening identifies at least one HIV-infected
				pregnant woman per 1,000 women screened;
4.1.d.5.B. The woman is known to be at high
				risk for acquiring HIV, for example, injection- drug users and their sexual
				partners, women who exchange sex for money or drugs, women who are sex partners
				of HIV-infected persons and women who have had a new or more than one sex
				partner during the pregnancy; or
4.1.d.5.C. A woman who has signs or symptoms
				consistent with acute HIV infection.
4.1.e. The bureau may charge the reasonable
				cost for HIV laboratory analysis done at the state hygienic laboratory. The
				cost of the test may not be passed through to the patient by a public health
				department.