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Bill requiring parental access to child electronic health information moves to SD House • South Dakota Searchlight [1]
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Date: 2025-01
A legislative committee advanced a bill Thursday at the Capitol in Pierre to require parental access to children’s electronic health information and online patient portal.
State Rep. John Huges, R-Sioux Falls, proposed the bill, which had support from medical associations, health care systems and conservative political advocacy organizations. He said there is a “clear trend” toward making adolescent medical information confidential, citing a position statement from the Canadian Paediatric Society.
The trend is concerning, Hughes said, because parents play a critical role in managing the health care of their children. Parents and legal guardians in South Dakota are legally obligated to provide medical care for their children.
Electronic health records and portals allow patients to message their providers and view health records, medications and appointments. Parents typically manage their child’s portal — sending messages and arranging appointments — until their children are able to manage their health care themselves.
Some health care systems in South Dakota deactivate parental access to medical portals once a child turns 12, unless the child consents to parental access. There are some legal reasons that a child can seek health care without parental consent.
Avera Health, which supported the bill, said it automatically deactivates parental access at that age because the system’s “electronic health record does not have an easy way to carve out” those services a minor can receive without parental consent, said Kim Malsam-Rysdon, Avera Health vice president of public policy.
“That is different from the medical record of which the parent can always request and will get,” Malsam-Rysdon said.
State law allows parents to access their minor child’s health care and school records. The bill wouldn’t limit a minor’s rights to seek treatment without parental consent or notification for sexually transmitted diseases, alcohol and drug addiction, mental health services, or abuse and neglect concerns. The bill would also not apply to children empowered to independently seek care by court orders or because the child is legally emancipated from their parents.
The bill passed the House Health and Human Services Committee 12-1 and now heads to the House floor.
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[1] Url:
https://southdakotasearchlight.com/briefs/sd-legislature-2025-bill-requiring-parental-access-child-electronic-health-information-moves-house/
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