The Department of Health Services shall establish a list of reportable diseases and conditions, and specify requirements (e.g. the timeliness related to the reporting of each disease and condition, the mechanisms for reporting, and the content to be included) for the reports made. The diseases listed as reportable shall be properly reported as required to the department by the health officer.
Health care providers and laboratories shall report HIV infection cases and patient names to local health officers in order to keep California competitive for federal HIV and AIDS funding. Local health officers shall report unduplicated HIV cases by name to the State Department of Health Services.
Any health practitioner who performs a forensic medical examination of a person in the custody of law enforcement from whom evidence is sought in connection with a sexual assault crime, shall prepare a written report on standard form of the Office of Emergency Services and provided to law enforcement agency with custody of the individual. The examination and report is subject to the confidentiality requirements of the Confidentiality of Medical Information Act.
Commencing July 1, 2009, or within one year of the establishment of a state electronic laboratory reporting system, whichever is later, a report of a reportable disease or condition generated by a laboratory shall be submitted electronically in a manner specified by the Department of Public Health. This electronic reporting requirement shall not apply to reports of HIV infections. The department shall allow laboratories that receive incomplete patient information to report the name of the provider who submitted the request to the local health officer.
If a person is transferred from a health care facility/community care facility to a hospital and exhibits symptoms of neglect or abuse, the manager of the hospital or patient's physician at the hospital shall notify appropriate authorities. Healthcare providers/persons complying with this statute shall not incur civil or criminal liability, and shall not be disciplined by their employer for doing so.
In order to determine whether a person is in substantial danger of abuse or neglect and needs a conservator, the public guardian or the county's adult protective services agency may petition for the court to order identified health care providers or organizations to provide private medical information about the person to the public guardian's authorized representatives.
A local law enforcement agency must immediately report to the ombudsman program when the abuse is alleged to have occurred in a long-term care facility or to the county adult protective services if abuse occurred elsewhere. The law enforcement agency must also report the abuse to the agency responsible for investigating cases of elder and dependent adult abuse.
An adult protective services agency, a local law enforcement agency, or an ombudsman program receiving a report of elder or dependent adult abuse alleged to have occurred in a long-term care facility must report such information to the licensing agency.
An adult protective services agency, a local law enforcement agency, or an ombudsman program must report results of investigations of elder or dependent adult abuse to agencies that reported or referred the abuse incident.
