AMA seeks to revise regulations for releasing health information on pediatric patients

The AMA announced it will ask the HHS Office for Civil Rights to review and revise regulations for physicians when releasing health information about pediatric and adolescent patients.

Current regulations allow physicians to withhold certain information when its release could cause physical harm to the patient. The Preventing Harm Exception obliges physicians to provide their adolescent patients’ parents or guardians with health information on “sensitive” topics, including reproductive health, mental health or substance use, even when the physician feels doing so “would emotionally or psychologically harm” the patient, according to a press release.

AMA said it will urge the Office for Civil Rights to expand the meaning of the term “harm” to include mental and emotional distress in addition to physical harm.

“The current regulation that permits a physician to withhold the release of information in cases of anticipated physical harm is a blinkered view of the patient-physician relationship,” Bobby Mukkamala, MD, AMA board chair-elect, said in the release. “It denies physicians their ability to exercise their expertise and training to evaluate the needs of a patient. Adolescents trust their physicians to guide them through difficult times. This change would build stronger trust.”

The AMA said it will ask the Office for Civil Rights to form a commission of medical professionals that can assist in reexamining the definition of harm. The AMA also said it intends to share scientific evidence that shows how mental and emotional health are integrated with physical health.