RELATES TO:
KRS
215.520-215.600,
216B.010-216B.131,
216B.990
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY:
KRS
216B.042(1) requires the
Cabinet for Health and Family Services to establish licensure standards and
procedures to ensure safe, adequate, and efficient health facilities and health
services. KRS
215.590 requires a health service or health
facility licensed pursuant to KRS Chapter 216B or KRS Chapter 333 to report
knowledge of a person who has active tuberculosis to the local health
department. This administrative regulation establishes requirements for
tuberculosis (TB) testing of health care workers in health facilities or
settings licensed under KRS Chapter 216B or KRS Chapter 333. These procedures
are necessary to minimize the transmission of infectious tuberculosis disease
among staff and patients or residents of health facilities.
Section 1. Definitions.
(1) "Air changes per hour" or "ACH" means the
air change rate expressed as the number of air exchange units per
hour.
(2) "Airborne Infection
Isolation (AII) room" means a room, formerly called a negative pressure
isolation room, which is designed to maintain AII and is a single-occupancy
patient-care room used to isolate persons with suspected or confirmed
infectious TB disease.
(3) "BAMT
conversion" means a change in the BAMT test result, on serial testing, from
negative to positive over a two (2) year period.
(4) "Blood Assay for Mycobacterium
tuberculosis" or "BAMT" means a diagnostic blood test that:
(a) Assesses for the presence of infection
with M. tuberculosis;
(b) Reports
results as positive, negative, indeterminate, or borderline; and
(c) Includes interferon-gamma (IFN-£)
release assays (IGRA).
(5) "Boosting" or the "booster phenomenon"
means if nonspecific or remote sensitivity to tuberculin purified protein
derivative (PPD) in the skin test wanes or disappears over time, subsequent
tuberculin skin tests (TSTs) may restore the sensitivity.
(6) "Extrapulmonary tuberculosis" means TB
disease in any part of the body other than the lungs (e.g., kidney, spine, or
lymph nodes), and may include the presence of pulmonary TB or other infectious
TB diseases.
(7) "Health care
setting" or "health facility" means the following settings:
(a) Abortion facility;
(b) Adult day health program;
(c) Alzheimer's nursing home;
(d) Ambulatory care clinic;
(e) Ambulatory surgical center;
(f) Blood establishment;
(g) Chemical dependency treatment
service;
(h) Community mental
health center;
(i) Comprehensive
physical rehabilitation hospital;
(j) Critical access hospital;
(k) Family care home;
(l) Freestanding birth center;
(m) Group home;
(n) Home health agency;
(o) Hospice program;
(p) Hospital;
(q) Intermediate care facility;
(r) Intermediate care facility for
individuals with an intellectual disability (ICF/IID);
(s) Limited services clinic;
(t) Medical laboratory;
(u) Mobile health service;
(v) Network;
(w) Nursing facility;
(x) Nursing home;
(y) Nursing pool;
(z) Outpatient health care center;
(aa) Pain management facility;
(bb) Personal care home;
(cc) Prescribed pediatric extended care
facility;
(dd) Psychiatric
hospital;
(ee) Primary care
center;
(ff) Private duty nursing
agency;
(gg) Level I or Level II
psychiatric residential treatment facility;
(hh) Rehabilitation agency;
(ii) Renal dialysis facility;
(jj) Residential hospice facility;
(kk) Rural health clinic;
(ll) Special health clinic;
(mm) Specialty intermediate care
clinic;
(nn) Specialized medical
technology service; or
(oo)
Behavioral health services organization.
(8) "Health care workers" or "HCWs" means all
paid and unpaid persons working in health care settings who have the potential
for exposure to infectious materials, including body substances, contaminated
medical supplies and equipment, contaminated environmental surfaces, or
contaminated air, and shall include:
(a)
Physicians;
(b) Physician
assistants;
(c) Nurses;
(d) Medical assistants;
(e) Nursing assistants or nurse
aides;
(f) Therapists;
(g) Technicians;
(h) Emergency medical service
personnel;
(i) Dental
personnel;
(j)
Pharmacists;
(k) Laboratory
personnel;
(l) Autopsy
personnel;
(m) Students and
trainees;
(n) Contractual and
community-based physicians and other healthcare professionals and staff not
employed by the health care facility; and
(o) Persons (e.g., clerical, dietary,
housekeeping, laundry, security, maintenance, billing, and volunteers) not
directly involved in patient care but potentially exposed to infectious agents
that may be transmitted to and from health care workers and patients or
residents.
(9)
"Induration" means a firm area in the skin that develops as a reaction to
injected tuberculin antigen if a person has tuberculosis infection and that is
measured in accordance with Section 3(2) of this administrative
regulation.
(10) "Infectious
tuberculosis" means pulmonary, laryngeal, endobroncheal, or tracheal TB disease
or a draining TB skin lesion that has the potential to cause transmission of
tuberculosis to other persons.
(11)
"Latent TB infection" or "LTBI" means infection with M. tuberculosis without
symptoms or signs of disease having been manifested.
(12) "Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis" or
"MDR TB" means TB disease caused by M. tuberculosis organisms that are
resistant to at least isoniazid (INH) and rifampin.
(13) "Nucleic Acid Amplification" or "NAA"
means a laboratory method used to target and amplify a single deoxyribonucleic
acid (DNA) or ribonucleic acid (RNA) sequence usually for detecting and
identifying a microorganism.
(14)
"Polymerase chain reaction" or "PCR" means a system for in vitro amplification
of DNA or RNA that can be used for diagnosis of infections.
(15) "Staggered tuberculosis testing" means
the testing of a health care worker in or before the same month as the
anniversary date of his or her date of initial employment, or testing in or
before the worker's birth month so that all health care workers do not have
tuberculosis testing in the same month.
(16) "TST conversion" means a change in the
result of a test for M. tuberculosis infection in which the condition is
interpreted as having progressed from uninfected to infected in accordance with
Section 3(4) of this administrative regulation.
(17) "Tuberculin Skin Test" or "TST" means a
diagnostic aid for finding M. tuberculosis infection that:
(a) Is performed by using the intradermal
(Mantoux) technique using five (5) tuberculin units of purified protein
derivative (PPD); and
(b) Has
results read forty-eight (48) to seventy-two (72) hours after injection and
recorded in millimeters of induration.
(18) "Tuberculosis (TB) disease" means a
condition caused by infection with a member of the M. tuberculosis complex that
meets the descriptions established in Section 3(3) of this administrative
regulation.
(19) "Tuberculosis Risk
Assessment" means an initial and ongoing evaluation of the risk for LTBI or
active TB disease in a particular health care worker and is performed in
accordance with the provisions established in Sections 4, 5, 7, and 11 of this
administrative regulation.
(20)
"Two-step TST" or "two-step testing" means a series of two (2) TSTs
administered seven (7) to twenty one (21) days apart and used for the baseline
skin testing of persons who will receive serial TSTs, including health care
workers and residents of long-term care settings, to reduce the likelihood of
mistaking a boosted reaction for a new infection.
Section 2. TB Infection Control Program.
(1) Each health facility shall have a written
TB infection control plan that is part of an overall infection control
program.
(2) The TB infection
control plan shall be designed to control M. tuberculosis transmission through
early detection, isolation, diagnosis, and treatment of persons with active TB
disease.
(3) A hierarchy of control
measures shall be used, including:
(a)
Administrative controls;
(b)
Environmental controls; and
(c)
Respiratory protection.
(4) A TB infection control plan shall include
a listing of the job series of health care workers or another standardized
method to describe which health care workers shall be included in the facility
TB screening program.
(5) At a
minimum, a health care worker shall be included in the TB screening program if
the worker:
(a) Has duties that involve
face-to-face contact with patients with suspected or confirmed active TB
disease, including transport staff;
(b) Has the potential for exposure to M.
tuberculosis through air space shared with persons with suspected or confirmed
active TB disease of the respiratory system;
(c) Has duties that involve the processing of
laboratory specimens for TB testing or TB cultures;
(d) Has duties that have the potential for
exposure to the environment of care of persons with suspected or confirmed
active TB disease; or
(e) Performs
other tasks or procedures which may generate infectious aerosol droplet nuclei
in which the worker has or may have exposure to TB disease.
(6) A facility may voluntarily
include additional or all health care workers in the TB screening program based
upon:
(a) TB incidence (local or
regional);
(b) Other TB risk
factors;
(c) Changes in the
epidemiology of TB (local or regional);
(d) Patient safety strategies;
(e) Risk management strategies; or
(f) Any other factors.
Section 3. Tuberculosis Testing
Requirements for TSTs.
(1) Two-step testing
shall be used to distinguish new infections from boosted reactions in
infection-control surveillance programs.
(2)
(a) A
TST shall be performed by:
1. A
physician;
2. An advanced practice
registered nurse;
3. A physician
assistant;
4. A registered nurse;
or
5. A pharmacist.
(b) A licensed practical nurse
under the supervision of a registered nurse may perform a TST.
(3) Induration Measurements.
(a) The diameter of the firm area shall be
measured transversely (i.e., perpendicularly) to the long axis of the forearm
to the nearest millimeter to gauge the degree of reaction, and the result shall
be recorded in millimeters.
(b) The
diameter of the firm area shall not be measured along the long axis of the
forearm.
(c) A reaction of ten (10)
millimeters or more of induration, if the TST result is interpreted as
positive, shall be considered highly indicative of tuberculosis infection in a
health care setting.
(d) A reaction
of five (5) millimeters to nine (9) millimeters of induration may be
significant in certain individuals with risk factors described in Section 4(3)
of this administrative regulation for rapid progression to active tuberculosis
disease if infected.
(4)
Tuberculosis (TB) disease.
(a) A person shall
be diagnosed as having tuberculosis (TB) disease if the infection has
progressed to causing clinical (manifesting signs or symptoms) or subclinical
(early stage of disease in which signs or symptoms are not present, but other
indications of disease activity are present, including radiographic
abnormalities) illness.
1. Tuberculosis that
is found in the lungs shall be called pulmonary TB and may be
infectious.
2. Extrapulmonary
disease (occurring at a body site outside the lungs) may be infectious in rare
circumstances.
(b) If the
only clinical finding is specific chest radiographic abnormalities, the
condition is termed "inactive TB" and shall be differentiated from active TB
disease, which is accompanied by symptoms or other indications of disease
activity, including the ability to culture reproducing TB organisms from
respiratory secretions or a specific chest radiographic finding.
(5)
(a) A TST conversion shall have occurred if
the size of the measured TST induration increases by ten (10) millimeters or
more during a two (2) year period in a health care worker with a:
1. Documented baseline two-step TST result
measured as zero (0); or
2.
Previous follow-up screening TST result with induration measured as one (1)
millimeter to nine (9) millimeters and interpreted as negative during serial
testing.
(b) A TST
conversion shall be presumptive evidence of new M. tuberculosis infection and
poses an increased risk for progression to TB disease.
Section 4. TB Risk Assessment and
Tuberculin Skin Tests or BAMTs for Health Care Workers on Initial Employment.
(1) Risk Assessment.
(a) To perform a TB Risk Assessment, a
questionnaire shall be used and the following factors shall be assessed:
1. The clinical symptoms of active TB
disease;
2. Events and behaviors
that increase the risk for exposure to M. tuberculosis and the risk of
acquiring LTBI; and
3. Medical risk
factors that increase the risk for a health care worker with LTBI to develop
active TB disease.
(b) A
TB Risk Assessment questionnaire may be obtained from the Kentucky Department
for Public Health (published online at
http://chfs.ky.gov/dph/epi/tb.htm)
or from a national medical or public health organization, including the
American Academy of Pediatrics or the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
(c) TB Risk Assessment
questions shall be on a facility-approved form or incorporated into the
facility's medical history forms or into forms or other features of the
facility's electronic medical record systems.
(2) Exclusion of Health Care Workers from
Tuberculin Skin Tests or BAMTs Upon Initial Employment in a Health Facility. A
TST or BAMT shall not be required at the time of initial employment if the
health care worker provided medical documentation for one (1) of the following
as part of a TB Risk Assessment:
(a) A prior
TST of ten (10) millimeters or more of induration if the TST result was
interpreted as positive;
(b) A
prior TST of five (5) millimeters to nine (9) millimeters of induration if the
health care worker has a medical reason as described in subsection (3) of this
section for his or her TST result to be interpreted as positive;
(c) A positive BAMT;
(d) A TST conversion;
(e) A BAMT conversion;
(f) Current receipt or completion of
treatment for LTBI with one (1) of the treatment regimens recommended by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
(g) Completion of a course of multiple-drug
therapy for active TB disease recommended by the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention; or
(h) A TST or
BAMT within three (3) months prior to initial employment at the facility and
previous participation in a serial testing program at another medical facility
or health care setting.
(3) A medical reason for a health care
worker's TST result of five (5) millimeters to nine (9) millimeters of
induration to be interpreted as positive may include:
(a) HIV-infection;
(b) Immunosuppression from disease or
medications;
(c) Fibrotic changes
on a chest radiograph consistent with previous TB disease; or
(d) Recent contact with a person who has
active TB disease.
(4) TB
Risk Assessments and Tuberculin Skin Tests or BAMTs for Health Care Workers
upon Initial Employment in a Health Facility.
(a) A baseline TB Risk Assessment, and a TST
or BAMT if not excluded pursuant to subsection (2) of this section, shall be
initiated on each new health care worker before or during the first week of
employment. The results shall be documented in the health care worker's medical
record or electronic medical record within the first month of
employment.
(b)
1. A TB Risk Assessment required by paragraph
(a) of this subsection and other sections shall be performed by:
a. A physician;
b. An advanced practice registered
nurse;
c. A physician
assistant;
d. A registered nurse,
or
e. A pharmacist.
2. A licensed practical nurse
under the supervision of a registered nurse may perform the TB Risk
Assessment.
(c) An
initial or first-step TST result of ten (10) millimeters or more of induration
may be interpreted as positive for a new health care worker.
(d) An initial or first-step TST result of
five (5) millimeters to nine (9) millimeters of induration may be interpreted
as positive for a new health care worker who has a medical reason as described
in subsection (3) of this section for the TST result to be interpreted as
positive.
(5)
(a) A two-step baseline TST shall be required
for a health care worker aged fourteen (14) years and older whose initial or
first-step TST, initiated before or during the first week of employment
pursuant to subsection (4)(a) of this section, is interpreted as
negative.
(b) The second step-test
shall be initiated seven (7) to twenty-one (21) days after the first test.
1. A TST result of five (5) millimeters to
nine (9) millimeters of induration may be interpreted as positive on the second
step TST for a health care worker who has a medical reason as described in
subsection (3) of this section for the TST result to be interpreted as
positive.
2. If a health care
worker aged fourteen (14) years and older does not have a medical reason as
identified in subsection (3) of this section and the worker's initial or
first-step TST shows less than ten (10) millimeters of induration and a
second-step TST shows ten (10) millimeters or more of induration, the TST shall
be interpreted as positive.
3. The
initial TST shall count as the second-step TST if the health care worker aged
fourteen (14) years and older provided medical documentation that he or she has
had a one-step TST interpreted as negative within one (1) year prior to initial
testing at the time of initial employment.
(6) A BAMT may be used in place of, but not
in addition to, a TST, and:
(a) If a BAMT is
performed before or during the first week of employment and the result is
positive or negative, only one (1) BAMT test result shall be required;
and
(b) A second BAMT shall be
performed if the BAMT result is borderline, indeterminate, or
invalid.
Section
5. Annual TB Risk Assessments and Annual Tuberculin Skin Tests or
BAMTs for Health Care Workers.
(1) A health
care worker shall have an annual TB risk assessment and annual education about
the signs and symptoms of active TB disease.
(2) A health care worker included in the TB
screening program, as determined by the health facility's TB infection control
plan, shall also have annual TB testing.
(3) The requirements established in this
subsection shall apply during annual TB testing.
(a) A health care setting shall use staggered
tuberculosis testing to assure that all health care workers are not tested in
the same month. Staggered testing shall be performed monthly, quarterly, or
semiannually.
(b) A health care
worker who has worked eleven (11) months or more in the facility and who has
never had a TST interpreted as positive, or has never had a positive BAMT,
shall have a TB Risk Assessment and a TST or BAMT annually in or before the
same month as the anniversary date of his or her last TB Risk Assessment and
TST or BAMT.
(c) A health care
worker who has worked eleven (11) months or more in the facility and who has
had a previous TST interpreted as positive, or a previously positive BAMT,
shall:
1. Have an annual TB Risk Assessment in
or before the same month as the anniversary date of his or her last TB Risk
Assessment; and
2. Not be required
to submit to an annual TST or BAMT.
Section 6. Medical Record or Electronic
Medical Record Documentation for Health Care Workers.
(1) The TB Risk Assessment shall be
documented in each health care worker's medical record or electronic medical
record by recording the date of the assessment and the results.
(2) The TST result of each health care worker
shall be documented in the worker's medical record or electronic medical record
by recording the date of measurement, millimeters of induration, and
interpretation of the results for each TST performed.
(3) The medical record shall be labeled
inside or the electronic medical record shall be labeled with the notation "TST
Positive" for each health care worker with a reaction of:
(a) Ten (10) millimeters or more of
induration if the TST result was interpreted as positive; or
(b) Five (5) millimeters to nine (9)
millimeters of induration if the health care worker has a medical reason as
described in Section 4(3) of this administrative regulation for the TST result
to be interpreted as positive.
(4)
(a) If
performed, the BAMT result for each health care worker shall be documented in
the worker's medical record or electronic medical record by recording the date
and result as positive, negative, borderline, or indeterminate.
(b) If a health care worker has a positive
BAMT, the worker's medical record shall be labeled inside or the electronic
medical record shall be labeled with the notation "BAMT Positive."
Section 7. Medical
Evaluations, Chest X-rays, and Monitoring of Health Care Workers with a
Positive TST, a Positive BAMT, a TST Conversion, or a BAMT Conversion.
(1) At the time of initial employment testing
or annual testing, a health care worker shall have a medical evaluation,
including an HIV test unless the health care worker opts out of HIV testing, if
the health care worker is found to have a:
(a)
TST result of ten (10) millimeters or more induration if the TST result is
interpreted as positive;
(b) TST
result of five (5) millimeters to nine (9) millimeters of induration if the
health care worker has a medical reason as described in Section 4(3) of this
administrative regulation for the TST result to be interpreted as
positive;
(c) Positive
BAMT;
(d) TST conversion;
or
(e) BAMT conversion.
(2) A chest x-ray shall be
performed as part of the medical evaluation required by subsection (1) of this
section unless a chest x-ray performed within the previous two (2) months
showed no evidence of tuberculosis disease.
(3)
(a) A
health care worker with no clinical evidence of active TB disease, upon
evaluation by a licensed physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or
physician assistant and a negative chest x-ray, shall be offered treatment for
LTBI unless medically contraindicated.
(b) A health care worker who refuses
treatment for LTBI or who has a medical contraindication shall be monitored
according to the requirements established in this paragraph.
1. A health care worker who has a positive
TST or a positive BAMT at the time of initial employment and works eleven (11)
months or longer in the health facility shall:
a. Have an annual TB Risk Assessment in or
before the same month as the anniversary date of his or her last TB Risk
Assessment; and
b. Not be subject
to an annual TST or BAMT.
2. A health care worker with a documented TST
conversion or a BAMT conversion shall:
a. Be
educated about and advised of the clinical symptoms of active TB
disease;
b. Have an interval
medical history for clinical symptoms of active TB disease every six (6) months
during the first two (2) years after conversion, followed by an annual TB Risk
Assessment in or before the same month as the anniversary date of the worker's
last TB Risk Assessment; and
c. Not
be subject to an annual TST or BAMT.
3. A health care worker with a positive TST,
a positive BAMT, a TST conversion, or a BAMT Conversion shall be:
a. Educated about and advised of the clinical
symptoms of active TB disease; and
b. Instructed to report to his or her
facility supervisor and seek medical attention promptly if symptoms persist for
three (3) weeks or longer.
(4) Documentation that the health care worker
was educated and advised of the clinical symptoms of active TB disease shall be
included in the health care worker's medical record or electronic medical
record.
Section 8.
Medical Evaluations, Chest X-rays, Laboratory Tests, Treatment, and Monitoring
of Health Care Workers with Suspected TB Disease or Active TB Disease.
(1) A health care worker with signs or
symptoms or an abnormal chest x-ray, consistent with TB disease, shall:
(a) Be immediately excluded from
work;
(b) Be isolated in an AII
room, referred to a facility with an AII room, or placed in home isolation in
collaboration with the local health department;
(c) Be evaluated for active tuberculosis
disease and, if needed, treated with multi-drug TB therapy as recommended by
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and
(d) Remain off work until cleared as being
noninfectious for TB by a licensed physician, advanced practice registered
nurse, or physician assistant in conjunction with the local and state health
departments.
(2) A health
care worker under treatment for suspected or confirmed pulmonary tuberculosis
disease, suspected or confirmed extrapulmonary tuberculosis disease, or other
suspected or confirmed infectious tuberculosis diseases caused by either
non-MDR TB or MDR-TB may return to work in the facility, as recommended by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after being declared noninfectious
by a licensed physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or physician
assistant in conjunction with the local and state health
departments.
Section 9.
Responsibility for Screening and Monitoring Requirements: Health Care Workers.
(1) A facility's administrator or
administrator's designee shall be responsible for ensuring that all TB Risk
Assessments, TSTs, BAMTs, chest x-rays, and sputum specimen submissions for
health care workers comply with the requirements of Section 3 through Section 8
of this administrative regulation.
(2) If a facility does not employ licensed
professional staff with the technical training to carry out the screening and
monitoring requirements, the administrator shall arrange for training or
professional assistance from the local health department or from a licensed
medical provider.
(3)
(a) A TST with the date of measurement and
millimeters of induration, interpretation of the results, the date performed,
reported results of all BAMTs, chest x-rays, sputum specimen AFB smears, TB
cultures, TB-related NAA tests, and TB-related PCR tests for a health care
worker shall be recorded as a permanent part of the worker's medical record or
electronic medical record.
(b)
Copies of the health care worker's medical record or electronic medical record
shall be provided to the worker upon request if the worker transfers to another
health facility.
Section
10. Reporting to Local Health Departments.
(1) A health facility's administrator or the
administrator's designee shall report a health care worker identified with one
(1) of the following to the local health department having jurisdiction within
one (1) business day of becoming known:
(a) A
TST conversion or BAMT conversion on serial testing or identified in a contact
investigation;
(b) A chest x-ray
which is suspicious for TB disease;
(c) A sputum smear positive for acid-fast
bacilli;
(d) A rapid laboratory
test positive for Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA or RNA, such as Mycobacterium
tuberculosis positive NAA tests or PCR tests;
(e) A sputum culture positive for
Mycobacterium tuberculosis; or
(f)
The initiation of multi-drug antituberculosis treatment for active TB disease
in a health care worker.
(2) A health facility's administrator or the
administrator's designee shall report a health care worker identified with one
(1) of the following to the local health department having jurisdiction within
five (5) business days of becoming known:
(a)
A TST of ten (10) millimeters or more induration at the time of initial
employment at the facility if the TST result was interpreted as
positive;
(b) A TST result of five
(5) or more millimeters of induration for a health care worker at the time of
initial employment who has a medical reason as described in Section 4(3) of
this administrative regulation for the TST result to be interpreted as
positive; or
(c) A positive BAMT at
the time of initial employment.
Section 11. Treatment for LTBI.
(1) A health care worker with a TST
conversion or a BAMT conversion with no clinical evidence of active TB disease
upon evaluation by a licensed physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or
physician assistant and a negative chest x-ray shall be considered to be
recently infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
(2) A recently infected person as described
in subsection (1) of this section shall have:
(a) A medical evaluation;
(b) An HIV test unless the individual opts
out of HIV testing; and
(c) A chest
x-ray.
(3) An individual
who meets the criteria listed in subsection (1) of this section and who has no
signs or symptoms of tuberculosis disease by medical evaluation or on chest
x-ray shall be offered treatment for LTBI, in collaboration with the local
health department, unless medically contraindicated as determined by a licensed
physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or physician
assistant.
(4)
(a) If a health care worker refuses treatment
for LTBI after a TST conversion or a BAMT conversion or has a medical
contraindication, the worker shall:
1. Be
educated about, and advised of, the clinical symptoms of active TB
disease;
2. Have a TB Risk
Assessment, which includes an interval medical history for clinical symptoms of
active TB disease every six (6) months during the first two (2) years following
TST conversion or BAMT conversion, followed thereafter by an annual TB Risk
Assessment in or before the same month as the anniversary date of his or her
last TB Risk Assessment; and
3. Not
be required to submit to an annual TST or BAMT.
(b) Documentation that the health care worker
was educated and advised of the clinical symptoms of active TB disease shall be
included in the health care worker's medical record or electronic medical
record.
(5) A health care
worker who has a TST result of ten (10) millimeters or more induration, if the
TST result is interpreted as positive, or a positive BAMT at the time of
initial employment shall be offered treatment for LTBI, unless medically
contraindicated.
(6) A health care
worker who has a TST result of five (5) millimeters to nine (9) millimeters of
induration upon initial employment and who has a medical reason as described in
Section 4(3) of this administrative regulation for the TST result to be
interpreted as positive shall be offered treatment for LTBI, unless medically
contraindicated.
(7) If a health
care worker refuses treatment for LTBI detected at the time of initial
employment in the facility or has a medical contraindication, the worker shall:
(a) Be educated about and advised of the
clinical symptoms of active TB disease;
(b) Have a TB Risk Assessment that includes
an interval medical history for clinical symptoms of active TB disease every
six (6) months during the first two (2) years after the date of initial
employment in the facility, followed thereafter by an annual TB Risk Assessment
in or before the same month as the anniversary date of the worker's last TB
Risk Assessment; and
(c) Not be
required to submit to an annual TST or BAMT.
(8) Documentation that the health care worker
was educated about and advised of the clinical symptoms of active TB disease
shall be included in the health care worker's medical record or electronic
medical record.
(9) A health care
worker who works eleven (11) months or longer in the facility and who provided
medical documentation that he or she has completed treatment for LTBI with one
(1) of the treatment regimens recommended by the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention shall:
(a) Not be required to
submit to an annual TST or BAMT; and
(b) Receive education on the clinical
symptoms of active TB disease during a TB Risk Assessment annually in or before
the same month as the anniversary date of his or her last TB Risk
Assessment.
Section
12. Compliance Date. All health care settings or health facilities
subject to the tuberculosis testing requirements of this administrative
regulation shall demonstrate compliance no later than 180 days after the
effective date of this administrative regulation.
Section 13. Supersede. If any requirement
stated in another administrative regulation within 902 KAR Chapter 20
contradicts a requirement stated in this administrative regulation, the
requirement stated in this administrative regulation shall supersede the
requirement stated elsewhere within 902 KAR Chapter 20.