What is the difference between confidential and anonymous hiv testing

Confidential testing means that your name and other identifying information will be attached to your test results. The results will go in your medical record and may be shared with your health care providers and your health insurance company. Otherwise, the results are protected by state and federal privacy laws, and they can be released only with your permission.

With confidential testing, if you test positive for HIV, the test result and your name will be reported to the state or local health department to help public health officials get better estimates of the rates of HIV in the state.

The state health department will then remove all personal information about you name, address, etc. CDC does not share this information with anyone else, including insurance companies. For more information, see HIV. Whether you disclose your status to others is your decision. Communicating with each other about your HIV status means you can take steps to keep both of you healthy. The more practice you have disclosing your HIV status, the easier it will become. In most cases, your family and friends will not know your test results or HIV status unless you tell them yourself.

Nobody else will find out unless you choose to tell them — the results are protected by privacy laws, and they can be released only with your permission.

Anonymous testing means that nothing ties your test results to you. There are numerous differences between these two methods of being tested for HIV.

It is a type of testing that is offered by some clinics is individual states in the US. With this test, it merely means that no one else except you can access the results of your test. The reason for this is that your name will not be recorded. Before going for a test, always confirm the kind of test that they offer.

In a confidential test for HIV, you and your provider will know the results; they may even be recorded somewhere. Confidential testing is offered in some places to make it easier to access results later. Besides that, confidential testing is excellent for tracking the number of new infections.

In fact, at some clinics, confidential testing is mandatory if they want to receive funding. It makes it easy for agencies involved in combating HIV infections for identifying new cases from those that go for multiple testing in different locations.

Even in cases where a test facility does not have anonymous testing, your results are still legally protected by the HIPAA rules. It means that an institution is legally obliged to protect your records so that only authorized people can gain access to them. Since anonymous testing is not offered across all the states in the US, it is one of the reasons why the FDA approved home-based testing kits.

This lack of anonymous testing is found in 11 states in the US. Both offer the same testing methods and are equally reliable. Access to the results is gained via a unique identifier that you receive at the time of testing.

Because anonymous testing is not available at all HIV test sites, it is important to ask the testing center you choose about their privacy policy, including who they will share your test results information with. Having the choice between anonymous testing or confidential testing removes any emotional barriers that may prevent those at risk from HIV infection seeking essential medication they potentially need.

Sexually Transmitted Disease. It is used alongside other accepted risk-reducing methods such as not sharing needles and using condoms during sex.