Provider

Routine HIV Screening: A Vital Tool in Prenatal Care

If you’re a prenatal care provider, you know how important routine HIV screening — regardless of risk profile — can be for the health of pregnant women and their newborn babies. Now there’s an updated DPH Clinical Advisory for Prenatal, Maternal & Newborn Providers that gives comprehensive recommendations on incorporating routine HIV screening in clinical settings, while staying consistent with Massachusetts law related to consent for testing and release of test results. To facilitate screening, the Advisory includes Frequently Asked Questions on how these consent requirements can be met without imposing obstacles to your staff or patients. There’s model consent language that can be included in your facility's general medical consent or otherwise adapted to fit the needs of your facility. The Advisory includes recommendations on obtaining advance consent to release maternal test results to the newborn health record — to ensure timely and high quality care right from the start.

Download the updated advisory