Alyson Sulaski writes:
Billing and insurance claims processes need to ensure the confidentiality of adolescents and young adults covered on their family’s health insurance plan. That is the emphasis of a new policy statement, available at https://www.adolescenthealth.org/SAHM_Main/media/Advocacy/Positions/Confidentiality-Position-Statement.pdf, from the Academy and the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine.
When adolescents seek care for a sensitive issue such as sexually transmitted infection (STI), mental health issue, contraception, pregnancy or substance abuse, they should not have to worry about a breach of confidentiality, according to the statement.
That does not obviate the need for parents to be engaged in the care of their teen. Nor does it take away the need for physicians to assist teens in engaging their parents for support, according to the statement, which is endorsed by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Read more on the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).