Sec. 3. (a) A licensed physician who diagnoses, treats, or counsels a patient with a serious communicable disease shall inform the patient of the patient's duty under section 1 of this chapter. (b) A physician described in subsection (a) may notify the following: (1) A health officer if the physician has reasonable cause to believe that a patient: (A) is a serious and present risk to the health of others as described in section 2(a) of this chapter; (B) has engaged in noncompliant behavior; or (C) is suspected of being a person at risk (as defined in section 1 of this chapter). (2) A person at risk (as defined in section 1 of this chapter) or a person legally responsible for the patient if the physician: (A) has medical verification that the patient is an individual with a communicable disease; (B) knows the identity of the person at risk; (C) has a reasonable belief of a significant risk of harm to the identified person at risk; (D) has reason to believe the identified person at risk has not been informed and will not be informed of the risk by the patient or another person; and (E) has made reasonable efforts to inform the individual with a communicable disease of the physician's intent to make or cause the state department to make a disclosure to the person at risk. (c) A physician who notifies a person at risk under this section shall do the following: (1) Identify the serious communicable disease. (2) Inform the person of available health care measures such as counseling and testing. (d) A physician who in good faith provides notification under this section is not subject to liability in a civil, an administrative, a disciplinary, or a criminal action. (e) A patient's privilege with respect to a physician under IC 34-46-3-1 is waived regarding: (1) notification under subsection (b); and (2) information provided about a patient's noncompliant behavior in an investigation or action under this chapter, IC 16-41-2 , IC 16-41-3 , IC 16-41-5 , IC 16-41-6 , IC 16-41-8 , IC 16-41-9 , IC 16-41-13 , IC 16-41-14 , and IC 16-41-16 . (f) A physician's immunity from liability under subsection (d) applies only to the provision of information reasonably calculated to protect an identified person who is at epidemiological risk of infection. (g) A physician who notifies a person under this section is also required to satisfy the reporting requirements under IC 16-41-2-2 through IC 16-41-2-8 . [Pre-1993 Recodification Citation: 16-1-10.5-11.5.]
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