GP guide for youth medical records online

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman welcomes a new guide advising GPs on how they provide access to children and young person’s health information via patient portals.

“Patient portals are convenient, secure and real time savers for both patients and general practice staff,” says Dr Coleman.

“Portals enable patients to access their personal health information whenever they need it. Patients can book appointments, request repeat prescriptions, and message staff securely from their laptop or smartphone.

“As we embrace this new technology one of the questions general practices have been working through is what to do when a parent requests access to the health information of their child, particularly if that child is a teenager.

“The new guidance provides a framework for considering these information requests. It also includes six case studies on the most common scenarios, such as when a young person asks to limit parental access, and portal access when parents are divorcing.”

The guide has been developed by the Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (RNZCGP) in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.

Nearly 340,000 patients have registered for a patient portal, that’s a rise of over 600 per cent in just two years, from nearly 50 per cent of general practices (445 practices) that now offer portals.

In 2015 a $3 million funding boost from the Government gave more New Zealanders access to patient portals.

The ‘Child and Adolescent Health: Patient Portals, Health Information and Disclosure’ guide is available to College members via their RNZCGP dashboard.