Management of sensitive health information within the electronic health record (EHR) presents significant challenges, particularly in balancing the access to health information for parents and legal guardians and the protection of adolescent and young adult (AYA) privacy, when appropriate. As most EHRs are not configured or lack functionality to safeguard sensitive health information for adolescents, it is critical to advocate for more enhanced and transparent functionality. Health-care professionals with expertise in the management of confidentiality concerns for AYA can be a source of education for other providers, institutional health information technology teams, and vendor-level developers. The Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine adopts the following positions: (1) institutions must ensure that the collection of and access to sensitive AYA health information are addressed in recommended EHR policies and practices during the development and deployment of EHR systems; (2) health-care providers should be educated on confidentiality best practices for managing AYA health information within the EHR; (3) clinicians and institutions can and should utilize current EHR functionality to manage and protect sensitive AYA health information; and (4) clinicians and institutions should advocate for enhanced EHR functionality, at both the vendor and institutional level, to protect sensitive AYA health information.
Jennifer L Carlson (Fri,) studied this question.