Parents denied access to their children’s medical records by law

January 29, 2019 in News by RBN Staff

 

Source: KCRG | By Josh Scheinblum

IOWA CITY, Iowa (KCRG) – A Coralville father recently found out he will no longer have access to his 12-year-old daughter’s medical records so he asked KCRG-TV9’s I9 investigative team to investigate.

Kevin Christians, of Coralville, says a letter triggered his concerns alerting him he was losing access to his daughter’s medical records.

At University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, parents are no longer able to see test results, messages from doctors and other information once a child turns 12.

The letter says the hospital wants kids at that age to be more active in their own health care. Christians believes 12 is too young to keep parents in the dark.

“If you get locked out of being able to see the health care records for your child that makes parenting even that much more difficult in my opinion,” said Christians.

The letter from UIHC does not give the full explanation. I9 found the practice stems from federal law and all hospitals have a similar policy but not all of them start at the same age.

I9 has discovered one medical organization where the age is 10.

TV9’s Chief Investigative Reporter Josh Scheinblum will explain the reasons for the law in the first place tonight at on the KCRG-TV9 news at 6.