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House panel advances bill to extend parental online access to minors’ records at state hospitals
Summary
A House health subcommittee voted to report House Bill 2399 after debate and testimony that the measure would require state-owned hospitals that are exempt from licensure to provide parents the same online access to minors’ electronic health records that licensed hospitals must provide.
House Bill 2399, introduced by Delegate Scott, would extend to all hospitals in Virginia the existing requirement that parents and guardians have access to a minor’s electronic health records when hospitals provide online patient portals. The bill responds to constituent reports that parents lost online access to records for children treated at hospitals owned or operated by the Commonwealth, which are exempt from state licensure.
Delegate Mark Scott told the subcommittee the bill copies language from the licensure statute that applies to privately licensed hospitals and places it in the statutory section that governs health-record access for entities currently exempt from licensure. He said the aim is consistency across facilities so parents have the same access regardless of whether a hospital is state-owned or licensed by the Department of Health.
Michael Moore, a parent who testified online in favor of the measure, said his child receives care at UVA and that parental access to the child’s online records was revoked. “Parents of children with disabilities often need to provide frequent medical updates to disability resource representatives, schools, and other caregivers,” Moore said. He added the bill “does not propose unrestricted access” but seeks to ensure “legal parents and guardians and custodial caregivers have appropriate access … with reasonable safeguards in place.”
Delegate Price asked whether the bill addresses only university-owned hospitals or applies more broadly. Counsel for the subcommittee explained that the current licensing provision (cited in the hearing as Code §32.1-127 and related licensing sections) requires licensed hospitals to provide parental access via secure websites, but the statutory definition of “hospital” in that licensing section does not capture state-owned hospitals. The bill places the access requirement in the health-records statute so it will reach those exempt entities.
Price also noted that the health-records statute excludes care for which a minor is legally treated as an adult; counsel confirmed the bill would not override those existing statutory exceptions. Delegate Scott asked members to move the bill forward to continue the conversation.
Action: the subcommittee moved to report the bill; the clerk recorded the vote as “bill reports by a vote of 6 to 0 to 1” (six yes, zero no, one abstention). The subcommittee did not adopt any substitute or amendment on the record during the hearing.
Ending: The bill was advanced out of subcommittee for further consideration; members asked staff and counsel to circulate clarifying language and to confirm which specific nonlicensed entities the change would reach.
