Transition Policy for Adolescents
and Young Adults
Holliston Pediatric Group is committed to helping our patients make a smooth transition from pediatric to adult health care. This process involves working with youth, beginning at around age 13 years, and their families to prepare for the change from a “pediatric” model of care where parents make most decisions to an “adult” model of care where youth take full responsibility for decision-making. This means that during teenage well visits, the providers will spend some of the visit time with the teens without the parents present in order to help teens set their own health priorities and to support teens to become more independent with their own health care decisions. We see this as an opportunity for teens to become more comfortable speaking alone with an adult healthcare provider, something that they will need to do independently once they are adults themselves.
Topics addressed during this confidential time between the adolescent and provider may include: diet, exercise and body image; fighting, danger and violence; sexuality and sexual behavior; safety and driving; smoking, drugs and alcohol; working/volunteering; depression and stress; school/grades/peer pressure; dating and relationships and family life. We want to give all teens an opportunity to address any and all of their healthcare concerns in a private and confidential manner, should they need to.
When your child turns 13, you will notice a change in your access to the MyChart patient portal. You will still be able to message your child’s doctor, print the health form for school, and view certain non-sensitive lab results. But other areas of MyChart will be private, for your child to access using their own login.
As parents, you are the experts about your teen and we want to work together with you to optimize their health. However, certain health information is, by Massachusetts law, confidential. That means that if your teen talks with us about certain issues, we need their permission to talk to you about it. These include drug addiction, family planning, treatment for sexually transmitted infections, and mental health concerns. We will inform you if we believe there is danger of serious risk to your child’s life or health.
We recommend that beginning in their mid teens children become involved in scheduling their appointments and keeping track of them on their own calendar. Make sure that your teen knows their own and their family’s important health history. They should know names and dosages of their medications, whether they have any medication allergies, and how to obtain prescriptions at a pharmacy. If your child is leaving for college, make sure your teen knows how to get in touch with their primary care provider at Holliston Pediatrics and how to access college health services.
When a teen reaches their 18th birthday, by law they are an adult and their medical information belongs to them and cannot be shared with a parent without their consent. We respect that many of our young adult patients choose to continue to involve their families in health care decisions. Only with the young adult’s consent will we be able to discuss any personal health information with family members.
If the youth has a condition that prevents them from making health care decisions, we encourage parents/caregivers to consider legal options for supported decision-making.
We will collaborate with youth and families regarding the age for transferring to an adult provider and recommend that this transfer occur before age 22. Between 18 and 22 we will help your young adult prepare for the transition to adult care. We will begin to discuss with them how to choose an adult doctor and how to transfer their medical information.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us.