Mom blocked from seeing 12 year old's medical records. It's the law in Michigan and other states
I talked to a parent and the Michigan Health Department
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On Sunday’s edition of Keeping it Real, I talked to a Michigan mom who said she was being kept from seeing her 12-year-old’s medical records.
I did some research and I found out that as part of a decades-old law, parents need the permission of their children to view some of their medical records when they reach the age of 12.
I asked the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services about this and they offered the following statement:
So, what is MCL 330.1707? Take a look below—
The law that is written seems somewhat vague when it comes to privacy.
So, as it stands now with many hospitals and medical providers in Michigan you will have to get the permission of your child to view their medical records online if they are over the age of 12.
This is what can be found on the University of Michigan medicine website regarding the issue:
If your child receives medical care at Michigan Medicine, when they turn 11, you will no longer have full access to their medical records. That's because state of Michigan privacy laws say adolescents and teens have a right to confidential healthcare in certain areas.
"Often, parents are surprised by this—one day they can see everything and the next day they can't," said Sharon Kileny, M.D., a general pediatrician and clinical assistant professor at Michigan Medicine. "Sometimes, we get phone calls from parents wondering what happened or why they can't see anything anymore."
Kileny said the automatic switch is strictly due to the law. Parents and guardians are not blocked from viewing all records, just appointment information and visit notes from areas like primary care, psychiatry, adolescent medicine, and gynecology. This is to keep issues like sexual health, sexually transmitted infection testing, substance use, and mental health confidential. If adolescents see a specialist outside of these areas, parents will be able to see the full visit record.
"We don't want to violate confidentiality for our adolescent patients," she said. "The conversation [with parents] is, 'Your child is now at the age where there could be some confidential information in their medical record, and by law you shouldn't have access to it, and that is why we make the switch from the full account to the limited account.'"
I talked to a parent who first alerted me about this situation.
Watch the entire interview below:
