 |
|
CONFIDENTIALITY:
I
understand that the information
that I provide will be treated as confidential in accordance with Vernon's
Statutes, Code of Public Health Section 81.046 which does not allow the sharing
of STD case follow-up information to any party outside the public health
team with a need to know. STD information cannot be made public upon subpoena or
otherwise except in the cases involving minors under the age of 13, or if the
information provided suggests child abuse.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
| This site is provided as a free service to help you make sure that your sex
partner(s) or your friends who may have been exposed to the STD that you were
treated for, can get notified and referred to medical care by specially trained
Disease Intervention Specialist(DIS). This process is totally confidential and it will help stop the
spread of serious STDs. |
-
Your doctor or a public disease intervention specialist (DIS) who is highly
trained in STD follow-up must assign you a Provider code to enter the secure
section of this site. This site provides you with the information
about sexually transmitted diseases so that you can learn more about the specific STD that you
had.
-
Once in the secure area,Partner Elicitation and Notification Services, click on the appropriate response in the
questionnaire. You will be asked to validate some of the information that
you provide before sending the information to the DIS for confirmation and
follow-up.
-
You will receive an E-Mail confirmation that your request was received.
This is necessary to ensure you that your information was received and is being
acted upon. The E-Mail will simply state that your request to the City of
Houston was received. It will not mention anything about health or STDs
for confidentiality reasons.
- As the DIS receives the information she/he will go through several steps
to match your Provider code with an official diagnosis by contacting your
doctor. It is possible that your doctor already discussed your diagnosis
with the DIS. Doctors are required to submit case reports to the health
department for some STDs so that public health follow-up can take place to help
control the spread of STDs. We cannot refer any contacts for you until we
have the case confirmation.
- Your doctor will confirm the diagnosis and we will be ready to work with
you on notifying your contacts and others at risk.
- Communicate and get to know the DIS responsible for working with you on
the partner notification process by phone, E-Mail, or in person. You will
be able to select the preferred method of contact.
- Maintain contact with your DIS throughout this process because more
information may be needed to successfully locate the people that you refer for
follow-up. Also it is normal for there to be other delicate issues around
partner notification including concerns you may have about relationships,
partner violence, anonymity or what ever else we can assist you with! Direct
communication with the DIS is the best way to address these issues and get guidance
to work through any obstacles.
Your DIS is a real person who does this very specialized work for a living and
they are true pros in handling these matters. Get to know your DIS and
work with her/him to make this a success. Your Provider code will be
valid to enter the confidential site for 45 days from the date you first enter
the secure site. This will allow you to add more information as needed
during that period of time.
|
|
|
|
