Hospital emergency departments: HIV testing.

Existing law requires that every patient who has blood drawn at a primary care clinic, as defined, and who has consented to the test, be offered a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) test that is consistent with the United States Preventive Services Task Force recommendations for screening for HIV infection. Existing law specifies the manner in which the results of that test are provided. Existing law authorized, from March 1, 2017, to February 28, 2019, inclusive, a pilot project, administered by the State Department of Public Health, to assess and make recommendations regarding the effectiveness of the routine offering of an HIV test in the emergency department of a hospital. Existing law required the department to select 4 hospitals, or fewer under specified circumstances, that have emergency departments to voluntarily participate in the pilot project. Existing law required the participating hospitals to offer an HIV test to any patient in the hospital emergency department, as provided, to collect specified information, and to report the information to the department. Existing law required the department, by December 1, 2019, to complete a report to the Legislature on the findings of the hospitals in the pilot project and make recommendations about routine HIV testing in hospital emergency departments. This bill would require every patient who is 12 years of age or older and has blood drawn at a hospital emergency department to be offered an HIV test, as specified. The bill would specify the manner in which the results of that test are provided. The bill would state that a hospital emergency department is not required to offer an HIV test to a patient if the department determines that the patient is being treated for a life-threatening emergency, if they determine the person lacks the capacity to consent to an HIV test, if the person was a patient of the hospital emergency department within the previous 12 months, was offered an HIV test, and consented to the test, or if the person is pregnant and has already been tested.