Defense Department confirms children being separated from parents at military hospitals.
The Department of Defense’s Policy on Adolescent Healthcare
The Department of Defense has implemented a policy that aims to provide adolescent children with privacy during their medical appointments. According to a Pentagon policy reviewed by the Washington Examiner, military doctors will routinely ask parents to leave the examination room for “alone time” with their children once they reach the ages of 12 and 13. This policy also includes keeping certain medical records confidential from parents starting around the same age.
Protecting Privacy and Ensuring Informed Consent
A defense official explained that federal law, specifically the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), recognizes the privacy interests of minors who are capable of providing informed consent for their own healthcare. This typically occurs during adolescence. As a result, the Department of Defense cannot provide full online access to parents or guardians for adolescents’ medical records.
The Defense Department’s policy acknowledges that different state laws may come into play regarding parental involvement in healthcare decisions. However, when conflicting laws arise, the department’s rules on privacy take precedence, and the Defense Health Agency has the authority to make final decisions.
Concerns and Experiences of Parents
The Defense Department’s policy came to light after a military wife, Amy Haywood, shared her experience when her family was stationed overseas. Haywood recounted how she was asked to leave the room during her adolescent daughter’s doctor’s appointment, which involved invasive questions. While some doctors may ask parents to leave, others may even require it. Haywood expressed that some parents felt pressured to comply against their better judgment.
Haywood firmly stood her ground and refused to leave the room, emphasizing the importance of parental involvement in guiding their children’s healthcare decisions. She questioned the department’s decision to remove parents from the process, particularly on topics such as mental health, pregnancy, and sexually transmitted diseases.
Privacy and Confidentiality in Adolescent Healthcare
The Defense Department’s policy aligns with the growing trend among hospitals and states to maintain confidentiality for adolescents in certain healthcare matters. All 50 states legally protect the privacy of adolescents in areas like sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment.
Academics from the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine have raised concerns about inadvertently disclosing protected information to parents through automated appointment reminders. They recommend that electronic health records vendors should allow for easy suppression of confidential information, granting parents access only to nonconfidential details.
The American Academy of Pediatrics, which actively supports children making their own medical decisions, particularly regarding sexual health and gender identity, also endorses the practice of separating parents during adolescent healthcare visits.
Parental Concerns and Trust
Haywood expressed her concern about the potential consequences of keeping important healthcare information secret from parents. She emphasized the importance of teaching children about integrity, honor, loyalty, and good character. Haywood questioned the ability of a stranger, such as a military doctor, to provide the best advice for her child’s life decisions, especially considering the transient nature of military families and the lack of familiarity with family doctors.
Despite these concerns, the Defense Department’s Tricare online patient portal cuts parents out of their child’s medical records at the age of 12, and the new Military Health System Genesis continues this practice at the age of 13.
Haywood believes that this issue should concern all Americans since it is happening within a military clinic, which falls under the executive branch of the federal government.
Click here to read more from the Washington Examiner.
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